Objectivity
by garden galaxy
Summary: She had been told many times to look at things from a different angle. Somehow, looking up at the Sandaime Hokage-a character from Naruto-at her position of roughly five inches tall on his desk, she thinks this isn't what they meant. Adaptable!Smart!Oc! Slow burn! I do not own Naruto but I own my OC.(I've changed the title from New Perspective)
1. Down the Rabbit Hole

_In which Hiruzen takes a feels trip and Haruhi take a field-trip._

* * *

For both worlds, the day started out like any other.

He leaned back with a sigh, moving the pipe to the other side of his mouth to release a cloud of smoke. Staring out the window, he briefly wondered if he could do anything but the huge stack of paperwork sitting inauspiciously on his desk, but the thought was stolen away with the sight of his village. It had taken many years and plenty of bloodshed in order for this time of relative peace to occur.

From this viewpoint, he could see Konoha's citizens bustling and going about their day.

An Akimichi and a civilian were haggling over vegetables. Families were shaking out carpets and washing window, younger academy children were were running excitedly to the ninja shops, shuriken and kunai glinting in the dappled sunlight, which was filtered by Hashirama trees. Now that he thought about it, the graduation exams were coming up shortly. His thoughts shifted to Naruto. Regardless, all were enjoying early spring.

It was a beautiful day, one that should not be wasted sitting behind a desk.

It was early spring, and he was sure the chunin wouldn't mind some extra help in handling the documents and books.

And with that, The third Hokage, the God of Shinobi, got up from his chair and left the trivial paperwork behind like a bad dream. It was inconsequential anyway, it being a time of peace in all. And while it was never bad to stay on top, most of it consisted of squabbling nobles. Despite that, Hiruzen felt a strange feeling of foreboding...

* * *

Harper stretched out on the couch like a cat, a pleased groan escaping her lips before collapsing in a boneless, ungraceful, heap. She hastily tugged the edge of her belly, and Blearily opened one eye. She took the time to appreciate the fact her semester of college was over and that she could at least take some time to relax before slumping over her textbooks.

Winter break had just begun and she reckoned herself to be a lot like the snowflakes drifting lazily outside. Briefly she imagined herself jumping around in the accumulating fluff and sticking out her tongue before the thought was chased away by the boiling metal teapot. Her cat, Patches, Jumped up onto the counter. Oh how clever, a calico cat named Patches. Joke's on them, though. Patches was a rescue animal with a missing eye. Scar tissue covered an empty socket and it reminded her of a pirate.

She was taking a break from the house work. Harper was so busy this semester she had a hard time getting to everything around the house. She had to make a stop at the hardware store to get new pipes for the kitchen sink. The old ones rusted. It had take two trips because the first time around she was in a hurry and grabbed the wrong pipes. Taking a long sip of tea, she sighed in relief.

She wondered how her friends were doing. She had invited them over to just chill for awhile and catch up since they were seeing less of each other due of collage, but they were all busy with something or other. That was okay! She could just do something else.

Ignoring the lump in her throat, she reached on the marble counter and poured the boiling water into the awaiting oversized mug, because if she was gonna have tea it was going to be in a cup big enough to drown a small mammal, Dammit! Honestly boiling water took so long, she wished it was quicker. She reached for a sugar cookie, but hesitated and withdrew her hand. She was chunky enough as it was. With each sip, thoughts of her life slipped back in.

She thought of her studies in college, specifically the psychology major she was going for. Her mother hadn't been happy to hear about that. She believed jobs like that didnt pay, and while she want wrong, its what Haruhi wanted to do with her life. Haruhi could get by, shes been getting by by herself since middle school.

Her mother was part of a large manufacturing company, she just didn't understand.

Haruhi sipped her tea, a frown replacing her smile. So what if she was into the creative arts? It wasn't hurting anybody. If she liked to read more than selling hardware to people did it really matter?

Speaking of which, with being so busy in college, she hadn't had anytime to read any of her old favorites.

She immediately shuffled, in her oversized hoodie and sweatpants, over to the massive shelf and found some of her favorite books of all time.

It had been so long she had last cracked open a Naruto manga and her lips quirked up into a soft smile.

With a happy hum, she cracked opened one of the neglected books she randomly chose and arrived on a page where Lord fourth was creating a seal. Despite her extreme comfort, curled up on the couch with her tea, book, and hoodie, she had a strange feeling. Nostalgia? Maybe...

* * *

"Good morning, Lord Third!" greeted multiple ninja as he made his way from the Hokage tower to the library, which was also carved into the mountain. He smiled kindly in his grandfatherly way, and greeted them right back. As he walked and chatted, he noticed immediately his right hand man, Nara Shikaku, slip beside him and match his stride.

The man lazily drifted his gaze over to the Hokage, question lighting them up. Hiruzen tipped his hat and smiled around his pipe, pushing the library doors open.

"Lord third!" came surprised shouts from the chunin workers.

"I couldn't help but think it was a lovely day for some spring cleaning." He replied. And with that, he fluidly fell into a rhythm with the others, sorting books and striking up a conversation.

The chunin were surprised, but delighted that their Hokage would help them with something so tedious. He was acutely aware of this, as his humble interactions with his people was what made him so well liked and beloved, even more so than his battle prowess. Of the Chunin there, one, who he believed was named Mizuki was showing subtle signs of tension. He would have to keep his eye on him, as he had recently shown suspicious behavior.

He chuckled at a joke told by one of the desk nin, sorting through The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi and ninja Tricks 101.

He smoked his pipe again and looked around at some of the people here. Ninja of all ranks could be seen, but what caught his attention was the academy teacher sitting and grading papers while doing some last minute research before genin testing took place. Iruka Umino. He was a perfect example of what a Konoha nin should be.

The man was so involved in what he was doing he started with a small yelp when the Hokage stood behind him and cleared his throat.

And for the umpteenth time that day, someone shouted "Lord Third!" He continued to smile before asking about the academy.

Clearly flustered but composing himself, Iruka started talking about the academy students. "There is incredible potential in some of the students, but most have trouble with teamwork."

Hiruzen loved hearing about the village's future but their time was cut short when Iruka left, late for class. With him the library started clearing out. But what accompanied his departure was the strange feeling he had felt before he left. It could have just been his imagination, but he felt as if it was tugging him towards a certain point in the library. One thing a shinobi learns is to ever doubt your gut feelings.

Disengaging, the God of Shinobi glided in his robes over to the S-ranked section of the library and disappeared like the ninja he was, inside the room hidden by genjutsu, traps, and fail safes.

He blinked at the darkness, his pipe providing dull light in the secure room. Folding his hands he signaled for the lights to flicker on, revealing rows and rows of scrolls filled with Konoha's forbidden jutsu and hidden secrets. As he walked past the Scroll of Seals, he noticed something.

The feeling was getting stronger.

With a sigh of regret, he was halted from continuing further when his eyes came upon the scroll detailing the Uchiha massacre. There was much that could have been done, but it was done too little too late. All that survived was a double agent and an academy student, who would also be graduating soon.

He continued walking.

And only stopped when came across Minato Namikaze's fuinjutsu scrolls, buried in the very back of the sterile room. Again, he was overcome with regret at the thought of his short lived successor, his pipe since gone out. All he could do was hope Naruto would do well in life.

He shuffled through the papers, and shook his head at The Fourths obvious genius. He would have to contact Jiraiya somehow, these seals would absolutely enthrall him. And while he knew they had not yet been studied because of the pain Jiraiya felt at losing his student, he was sure there was much to learn from them. Just then, the smallest yet of Minato's seals slipped out from between two larger ones.

He stiffened in shock. He knew every single document hidden in this corner of the library, so how did this smaller one slip past him?

He lit his pipe and looked closer at the seal. He was no master but could pick out the general meaning if he looked closely. Instantly he spotted similarities with summoning seals and Minato's infamous space-time ninjutsu. He immediately tucked the slip into his robe and briskly headed out. This would call for much more in depth scrutiny than what could be given by his current standing.

The time for Jiraiya's return was long overdue.

* * *

She sighed happily as she read the book. It was very fresh, almost as if she had never read it before. But, she thought, shifting her weight, that was impossible. She knew every book on her shelf; there was no way that she had never read this one. It was simply not possible for her to have missed one! She had to know where it came from.

But Harper couldn't help the nagging suspicious feeling that clouded her mind as she closed the book and studied the cover. It was obviously a Naruto book, but quite different from the others. For one, it was smaller in size and had a huge seal on the front cover instead of characters.

Studying it, she noticed similarities to Minato's space-time ninjutsu from what she had read on the wiki.

She slid off the couch to land on her knees and crawled over to the bookshelf. It wouldn't hurt to do some comparisons with other books.

* * *

He regarded the tiny slip of paper with a critical eye, leaning back and humming deeply. During their examination of the slip, they had found a second seal on the back.

Lord third leaned forward with a serious expression and laced fingers. He had practically scoured Fire country to contact Jiraiya. Really, you'd think he'd have better contact with his spymaster but reality said otherwise.

The Sannin cleared his throat.

"It seems the second seal is just for storing another scroll. Nothing should go wrong if we activated it" he said.

Hiruzen nodded his permission as his former student leaned over and activated it. With a pop and a cloud of smoke, a new document emerged and landed on his desk. From what he could see it was signed by Lord Fourth himself. Behind him, he felt Jiraiya inhale sharply. Slowly and carefully he smoothed it out and proceeded to read the letter written in familiar handwriting.

An explanation of sorts:

The original purpose of the seal is a birth gift for my child. Kushina and I may not always be around and he will always be in need of guidance and a companion to help him through life and to make wise

decisions. This is why I crafted this seal and it's my wish that he should receive it upon being old enough to handle some responsibility. Graduation age should be good enough, I think.

\- Lord Fourth, Minato Namikaze.

This was a problem.

Naruto was around graduation age. In fact, he failed the test twice. But nobody except the closest people knew Naruto Uzumaki was the son of The Fourth Hokage, Konoha's yellow flash. Giving him his father's gift would be raising a red flag- no matter what it was. Who could they give it to instead?

Looking over, he realized Jiraiya was on the same trail of thought. Reaching over, he explained the inner workings of the seal.

"It's a combination of a summoning seal and a space-time ninjutsu. There is also outlines of a size modifier. Used commonly in sealing scrolls. Whatever happens, it probably won't be big."

And with that reassurance, he leaned over and activated the seal.

Both were still with anticipation, Hiruzen having stopped smoking his pipe.

For a few seconds nothing happened.

Then, quick as lighting and with a puff of chakra, a small figure emerged and landed on the paper.

* * *

Looking over the face of her shelf, she became even more baffled as to what exactly this book was. She did not like the feeling of not knowing something. The strange feeling had returned tenfold; it was like an itch that became progressively worse the longer it was left alone. With a bemused groan, she rolled over like a beached whale and held the book right above her face.

Patches kneaded her cheek.

"Go away." She grumbled. Biting her cheek, she let out an impatient groan. Why was this so hard to figure out?

The clock read 2:34.

Harper scrubbed her face with her fist.

Staring at it, she noticed the seams were glowing. Was it because it was laminated?

Her hand hovered over the for a moment, wondering if she should touch it. Her intuition was saying no, but...

She shifted and lifted her hand to reach up and touch the seal against her better judgement.

She regretted it immediately.

The seal suddenly became a circle of swirling blue and despite fitting in her hand it appeared bigger and bigger. Screaming, she realized she was shrinking as the seal got closer and closer, until she was so small, she fit through it like a mouse through a mouse hole, or a late rabbit through a small door.


	2. You Rang?

_In which introductions are made and plans are laid._

* * *

She didn't know what she did.

Sure, reading books and walking around in oversized clothes might have been sinfully lazy, but if anything she should have gone to hell; not the Naruto universe. But they were basically the same thing, now that she thought about it.

After being sucked through the vortex of doom, she landed on a hard surface, barely thinking and suffering from severe whiplash. Groggily shifting around, the first thing she noticed besides the wooden surface was the stunned silence in the room.

She could relate, honestly.

Doing her best not to freak out, she sat up slowly with her eyes still closed before cautiously cracking one open. And was immediately greeted with something you only read about in some of her comic books.

Because the Third Hokage, God of Shinobi, and Jiraiya, Sannin and legendary Toad Sage, characters from her favorite anime, were staring down at her in complete bemusement. She imagined she was quite the sight sitting in her gray sweat pants, dark blue hoodie, and rectangle glasses. Then she realized that they were absolutely huge, and the Hokage's hand a little to her left was bigger than her. A little hysterically, she thought maybe she was having a vivid dream.

Yeah that was it.

Calmer now, her instincts kicked in and she hoisted her shocked butt up and brushed off invisible ink with shaky hands like she did this everyday. Her face flamed as she tugged down the edge of her wrinkly hoodie over her belly and a hand went up to try and smooth down her rat's nest.

She decided to start small.

"Hello, I'm Haruhi. Please take care of me." If she recalled, Naruto was Japanese-centric. She hoped they spoke English.

She was becoming increasingly uncomfortable the longer they gaped at her. Was something in between her teeth?

Jiraiya was the first to recover. He sucked in a huge breath, posed with his foot propped up, arms stretched and shouted:" I AM JIRAIYA, THE LEGENDARY MOUNTAIN TOAD SAGE!"

"..."

Well, she thought, at least she knew the language was English. The Third recovered just seconds after Jiraiya and was now looking over her with an appraising eye, moving the pipe to a corner of his mouth. A glint hidden in the corner of his eye. She shakily smiled back, slightly ruffled by the explosive introduction.

"Who are you?" She asked, feigning ignorance. She didn't know how to explain her knowledge so this was the best strategy she could take. Plus she could pass of any tells with her shaking from earlier.

He looked down before smiling warmly. "I am Lord Third, and you may call me such."

"It's nice to meet you both. Did you summon me?" She was completely bullshitting the last one, but it seemed like a good idea.

Honestly, she was thinking about the genie from Aladdin and how this all seemed like some sort of elaborate magic trick. But she needed to say something to retain her innocence. Plus that little puff of smoke was a lot like when you summoned things. She looked up questioningly to see their answer and almost missed the way they stiffened slightly. Almost. To her surprise she had apparently hit the nail on the head.

She decided she was now a unique summon who resided in her own private mountain valley and served as a companion, which is why no one had ever heard of her.

Lord Third nodded and looked at her "Yes we have."

"Can you tell me why? Not that I mind. It's just that I've never been summoned before." She wanted to know how she got here so she could leave just as fast. And they had to know something!

Jiraiya responded rather matter-of-factly, "We were testing out a seal, little lady, it appears you are the result."

The Hokage tipped his hat in greeting. "It's interesting to have you here. But you can return just as soon as we ask a few questions."

What questions? She suppressed an uncomfortable shuffle and tilted her head curiously. She had some of her own.

"Aw, she's adorable!" Jiraiya chuckled. Reaching towards her faster than she could dodge, he put a finger down on her head in a heavy, to her, pat.

"Hey!" she squealed a bit angrily and ruffled at the faster than lighting movement, "I'm fragile!" She didn't even need to act to be cute after all; she just was.

"Jiraiya." The Hokage scolded "We are asking her questions, not harassing the poor thing."

Jiraiya hummed at this before leaning over until she could clearly see the wart on the side of his nose and asked "Just what type of summon are you?"

She laughed outwardly, her mind dragging up the back story she had just come up with.

"A nice one. I'm meant to be a friend to whoever summons me." She smiled shyly, looking up at them through shoulder length curly black hair she had purposely made spill over her shoulder. She had to play it safe though, the information she had was her ace and she couldn't put all her cards on the table. Even if she herself was on said table.

They looked down on her with amusement and extreme interest and, a glint of something else. They probably had never seen something quite like her, which was good. That could give her some wiggle room.

"I suppose that means you're our friend?" The Third asked quizzically.

She nodded shyly, not having to pretend in her delight. These were two powerful characters who could send her back home or at the very least back her up. And, she genuinely loved meeting and getting to know new people. These people promised to be interesting.

"May I pick you up then?" The Third asked.

She blinked, startled. Her heart beat faster. No matter how well she was keeping her cool, that was a whole new ball game. The Third was also testing her and in order to live up to her claim she had to. But then again she could fall back on what she said earlier, that this was her first summoning. Ugh! She was overthinking things again!

She gulped. "Okay, j-just be careful"

And he slowly reached over to lay his palm flat on the table right next to her bare feet. She looked and put her palm down on his, slowly leaning over and using his pinkie finger as leverage. Her first thought on kneeling in his palm was that it had many callouses. Her heart was pounding in her ears as he lifted her up to face level, Jiraiya also leaning over his shoulder to get a closer look at her.

For the first time she realized what the other emotions was in their eyes; awe. For the first time she realized she was shaking throughout the entire thing.

Her expression softened dramatically and the shudders stopped with a deep breath.

She looked them full in the eyes before bowing and cheerfully shouting," At your service!"

They looked taken aback before adopting supremely amused expressions, Jiraiya and the Hokage both laughing.

"My last question will be; just what are we supposed to do with you?"

She froze before giggling nervously.

"It doesn't really matter,"

It does.

"You could keep me or send me back."

Please send her back. Like, right now, she wanted go to back _now_. The two exchanged looks, obviously following the same trail of thought before looking down at her again, Jiraiya's white mane shifting over his shoulder to pool like a waterfall to her left.

The Third seemed to like that idea too.

"You are an incredibly interesting creature, but I believe it's time you head back." She nodded with a pout, internally cheering, but also 'creature'! What did he mean by that? Good riddance! She'd wake up on her carpeted floor with carpet creases in her face, but otherwise fine.

But now that she thought about it they had seemed unusually open to her for a potential threat and something they knew almost nothing about. And yeah, sure a few inch tall woman with frizzy hair wasn't the most threatening thing ever, but you'd think they'd be more on guard. Especially since Jiraiya was a spy master. Shouldn't he want to find out more about her? Unless they already knew something she didn't…

Maybe her presence here was unintentionally compromising something? Maybe it was something they thought she should already know but didn't?

But it didn't matter. This fever dream would be over soon and it was for the better. She was vulnerable here, even more so than she usually would be, given her current height. A fruit fly could take her on and win.

But this was an experience. Sure she was still debating if this all wasn't some dream and that she would wake on on her couch with a cup of cold tea and a cat, but you didn't get the chance to study cultures up close every day. (unless you were a scientist with a microscope-)

But she wanted-no, _needed_ to know more. This was a whole new world of possibilities and it made her toes curl and the thought of all that potential learning.

The Third slowly lowered his hand until it was flat on the table. She carefully shifted her weight and reaching out one foot, then two, before she was standing on the table, with both of them staring at her expectantly.

She stared right back.

Jiraiya coughed awkwardly before asking "Aren't you going to go now?"

She froze. Then, blushed to the roots of her hair. This entire time, she had thought they knew how to send her back. Maybe they still did, and she was just jumping to conclusions!

"...I thought you guys were going to send me back." She stated more than asked.

It was their turn to freeze as they looked at her with disbelief.

"Well, I never said I was a normal summon. " She chuckled weakly.

They leaned back, obviously deep in thought. It became apparent to her that, while not minding her presence and actually somewhat enjoying it, they had thought, with her being a 'summon' that she would have been able to leave anytime. She was not supposed to be here. And yeah, she already knew that, but it wasn't the fact that this universe wasn't supposed to _exist_ more than it was that the Hokage and Jiraiya didn't want her here.

The Hokage leaned forward, fingers weaving together and a serious expression befalling his face.

"You say you are a companion?"

Cue hesitant nod.

"Then how would feel if one of my most trusted men took care of you while we figure out how to send you back?"

She nodded again, slower this time. As a college student, she made a point not to trust men she didn't know beforehand.

The Hokage puffed on his pipe before turning to look back at her. "This might take awhile. I'll have some food sent."

Thrice, she nodded, before realizing Jiraiya had vanished. Probably to go get the man or peep into the women's bath. The food arrived soon enough (bread with jam) and The Third turned to his paperwork while she ate, both of the waiting for this man.

It was harder than she thought it would be to eat, and by the time she had hauled the butter knife that was bigger than her and smoothed the jam on a rip of bread the size of her face she was panting and sweating. Eating was exhausting here.

She glanced around the Hokage's office and was struck by just how...primitive it was. The camera looked like something you'd use at the turn of the century. The light bulbs looked like they guzzled energy and the T.V they had was something she hadn't seen since she last went to her grandfather's house when she was a kid.

The corner of her lip lifted spitefully; The technology here was stone age. She was glad she was going back.

She already missed her phone.

She was just dozing off against an eraser when the door burst open, revealing Jiraiya, in all his glory, and a figure behind him.

She barely stifled her gasp when she saw who it was, before swallowing heavily. This was definitely going to be an interesting time.

Look on the bright side, she thought nervously. It was an experience!


	3. Companion to Him

_In which awkwardness ensues and pockets are cleaned._

* * *

She was going to have to get serious.

As she stared from her position right from the glass full of water(which made her reflection look really cool), in front of the pen laid on its side, and the stack of sticky notes which might as well have been a mini pyramid, she knew she would never be able to lie or dish out half truths to this guy.

Kakashi Hatake, The Copy Nin, Son of the White Fang, etc, stared at her in shock. His one eye was impressively expressive considering he was an elite nin, and now that she thought about it, wouldn't he have better things to do than practically babysit her?

It honestly was probably because he was a elite ninja. He could keep an 'eye' on her. Besides all that, though, she still thought there was another reason for him to be here. She was missing something. Not that she didn't already know that. Maybe because he was a student of the fourth, and knew a couple things about the seal?

She started in awe right back at him before snapping to attention. With a sudden bow forward that flipped her hair over her shoulders she squeaked,

"Hello! I'm Haruhi, please take care of me!" He had come back with Jiraiya and was no doubt debriefed about her, It was still a good idea to introduce herself though.

Looking up (cutely she hoped. Normally she was stuck in an constant impression of a troll. College didn't really leave much her time, and it showed with her foregoing her skin care routine.) She saw Kakashi look at her like all his worst fears had been confirmed.

He was frozen in his normal slouch, his gravity defying hair flopped slightly to the side-making him look like a confused puppy. His visible eye widened before slightly narrowing in defeat and curiosity. Under his heavy stare, she fidgeted and blushed. This man was crucial to the plot, and incredibly good looking. She had been quite out-of-touch with the fandom, but she knew enough to see the episode with Kakashi's true face.

'Quick! Think of something else!' she frantically thought to herself. It would not bode well to start crushing on this guy when accidentally moving his pinkie finger could crush her. Not like that mattered, he would wipe the floor with her any day, even if she was big. At that thought, her throat squeezed shut. She was really outclassed here.

Behind her, someone cleared their throat.

Whipping her head around, she saw the Hokage eyeing her and Kakashi with an amused expression, Jiraiya looking on with a lewd grin.

Cackling, he said

"It seems like Kakashi was the right choice after all! I'm off!" And with that, he jumped out the window she was sure he shouldn't have been able to fit through, white hair streaming behind him like a stratus cloud. A muffled shout of 'research!' reached the office before that too was carried away by the wind.

The Hokage sighed, probably beyond used to his shinobi's antics. She pulled her gaze away from the window and the sky beyond, turning her body to face the room again, only to squeak in surprise when Kakashi's cloth covered face was inches away from her!

She squealed and jumped-probably sounding like a pig, and fell on her rump, having tripped on a corner of the pen.

This only encouraged him to lean in closer, and she shuffled away until her back bumped into the glass.

Her mind froze as did the rest of her. Her breath became shallow and slow and she tried to disappear. Swallowing she tilted her head and looked up into his eyes. A gasp escaped her.

Kakashi was now looking at her with unbridled cursorily, his one grey eye widened and not moving from her petite figure. She could see herself reflected in the pupil, the image fading out as it came to the grey iris. She looked like a startled mouse, with glasses making her eyes indistinguishable, curly hair all askew, and limbs swallowed by dark cloth. It was impossible to make out any definite features, as the lighting in the office wasn't the greatest. Chest rapidly rising and falling to boot, his face this close to her wasn't doing her any favors.

She flinched again when he slowly raised his hand and moved it towards her, skimming the Hokages papers like a motorboat on top of water. With wide eyes, she watched as it descended, the hand slowly curling into a fist until only the index finger remained out, and ruffled her hair like a dog. She was a cat person.

"Hey! what gives!" She shouted in a ridiculously small voice, swatting at his hand like an over sized fly. She bit her lip, becoming impatient. She should have been at home reading her book. She didn't expect it to take this long and Kakashi messing around with her hair did not make her happy. But before she could do anything, Hiruzen decided to make himself known, clearing his throat again, obviously annoyed at being ignored.

Kakashi backed up and off the desk, if anything, looking more curious. Slightly abashed, he rubbed his head, flopping around his hair. His one eye avoiding looking at them. She wasn't sure if he was sheepish because the Hokage called him out or if it was because of the head pat. Maybe both.

"As you know Kakashi, you are simply one of the best for the job. Both of you would benefit greatly from this arrangement."

Still looking at her out of the corner of his eye, it sharpened when he listened.

"Hmmm, I'd have to say... no."

She and The God of Shinobi simultaneously choked in shock. Him on his pipe and her on her own spit. They stared at him, as he had just pulled out an orange book with a suspicious cover.

Suddenly the room was clouded with tension. Kakashi stiffened before flicking his eye up to Hizuren. She stood up cautiously, after having fallen back down with the rejection.

"I think you misheard me, Kakashi."

"As your Hokage, you will accept the B ranked mission and take Haruhi in as your ward."

'Wow' she thought in a daze. What a badass. No wonder he was called the God of Shinobi. Yes she was very easily impressed. But still, her feelings were kinda hurt. Kakashi was awesome and a moral compass for the series, to have him flat out reject her was a blow.

'Whatever!' She thought angrily, all the while keeping her confused smile plastered on. It wasn't like she wanted to be stuck with some porn reading man child anyway.

Even if he was cute.

"That's all, you are dismissed." Kakashi put his book away and slowly walked over to her. Fighting back the creeping blush and urge to run, she awkwardly grinned, giving a small wave of her finger that mimicked tree leaves.

They gazed at each other in contemplation before he repeated his motion from before and slowly lowered his hand to lay flat on the desk. Feel a sense of Déjà vu, she padded over and gulped, not meeting his eye. She leaned forward and slowly lifted herself onto his hand. His fingers twitched, and if she hadn't been leaning on his hand she wouldn't have seen or felt it, it was so minuscule.

He slowly lifted her up to chest level, and with one salute he walked out of the office.

She was hyper aware of his every movement and she was sure he was too. The hand was as steady as a rock and she barely felt the swaying of his steps. A distant thrumming was under her folded criss-cross applesauce legs, and with a jolt she realized it to be his heartbeat. She felt a heavy gaze on her and tilted her head towards his, hair dancing over her shoulders.

He had the same look as before. The one eye staring down at her as if it didn't quite believe what he was seeing. Same, friend.

It was adorable.

She relaxed, tilted her head, and sent a beaming grin up at him. He gawked slightly but continued to stare, completely enthralled.

With the ice broken, she made her move. She stood up and started to climb his sleeve like a hyper kitten. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"W-what are you doing?" He slightly stuttered, sounding nervous.

Sizing him up, she said;

"Getting comfortable. I'll be here for awhile." And with that and a toothy grin, she scaled his frozen arms (biceps!nice!) and crossed her way across cress like jumping through tires. She shifted along the collar just below his throat, the heat from his vision being replaced with the heat from his neck as it blocked out his sight. Crossing along like she was on the edge of a cliff, she dropped into his breast pocket, directly above his heart.

It was a lot like a hammock. It wasn't completely pitch black as the top was still cracked open a bit, and small amounts of light seeped through the fabric. It was dim, comfortable, and she could seriously fall asleep.

That was before she was nearly suffocated by a stray pookie.

Harrumphing, she impatiently grabbed pieces of paper and string and started tossing like she owned the place. And, as far as she was concerned, she did. Outside her cocoon, she felt him falter in steps again-or maybe he never started walking in the first place.

"...Should I be concerned?" He said, watching her appear and disappear from his pocket, idly brushing off pocket dust from his uniform that didn't make it to the floor.

"Nope, I'm gonna take a nap!" she giggled. Bemused, he continued watching her until she was done, and slipped back down. Once again enclosed in the fabric, she sighed in relief at just how comfortable it was. Feeling like she was forgetting something, she had an 'ah ha!' moment and took off her glasses and put then in her shirt.

She started swaying with careful footsteps, and now that she was directly above it, she could hear his slow heartbeat, lazy like he was.

She drifted off to sleep, as it had been a long day.

She would sort everything out after a quick power nap.

God knows she needed it.

* * *

Mole shifted from their position on the tree branch, having just witnessed everything that had occured in the office.

It was a near failure when the Legendary Sannin jumped out the window, their position having almost been compromised, but their quick reflexes saved Mole from being caught.

Lord Danzo would be pleased to hear about this.

A mysterious summon, a kind never seen before and from one of Lord Fourths seals and meant for the jinchuriki.

While non threatening in appearance, it could pose problems for Konoha, especially with circumstances like that.

With a hand sign, Mole shunshined away.

* * *

 **And there we have it! sorry guys, I can only really upload on the weekends.**


	4. Work Out

_In which rules are set and onions are rolled instead of heads._

* * *

Wherever she was, it was comfortable.

Insanely so.

She felt safe.

Through the haze of sleep, she registered it smelled like pine and dog, for some reason. And that was cool. Except for the dog part.

She didn't have a dog.

She must have left the windows open again in order to smell the pine trees in the backyard.

Swallowing, she let her mind drift like a lazy cumulonimbus cloud. At some point in her dreamlike state, it had turned into a dog with a weird laugh and she smiled wanly from wherever she was watching, and her mind became blissfully blank. A steady beat was surrounding her, like at a softcore night club, just as dark too. It was warm-but not too warm and she was cradled by the blanket.

But by god, for some reason there was a nagging feeling in her chest. Like something big had happened, or she needed to do something but she forgot.

Probably just the window.

Snorting slightly she turned and buried her face into the weird smelling fabric, trying to sink into it and a blissful sleep again. It was winter break and she was sure whatever was so pressing could wait. Her mind became as blank as the landscape she had seen earlier in the day. She was musing how it was strangely warm for a tundra, until a rabbit with spiky gray hair appeared. At first she didn't see it because the spiky silver blended perfectly with the icicle clad trees, buts its black face was hard to miss. She frowned from her position from the boulder, before shrugging. Something told her weirder things had happened to her.

She continued to sit and listen to the wind whistle through the ice until something rocked her world.

Literally. Not just because she was splayed on top of a boulder.

Eyes snapped open, greeted to a almost completely dark space. Walls that looked like they were lined with felt wallpaper surrounded her like a hammock. She froze, searching the dimness for the rocking.

Then it happened again.

The walls moved tentatively, like a musician plunking notes for an unfamiliar song. She was moved back and forth as a wind chime would, one of the wall things squashing against something hard and flat. The beating got briefly louder before fading as she swung away.

Squawking, she shouted "Hey! What gives!"

Really though, what was going on!?

The movements abruptly stopped and her heart beat loudly in her ears as she tried to gather her thoughts. The feeling from before was back as she desperately tried to remember how she got here. A cloud resided where her brain used to be and she couldn't seem to gather her thoughts. She hissed as a sliver of light appeared at the top of her hammock cave. It was a slow calculated move as if something was deliberately moving whatever was restricting the light slowly, as not to startle her.

Blinking as her pupils dilated, she took it as the invitation it was and shakily stood up, grasping to the walls in a baby like action. She now realized the space was a lot smaller than she had originally thought, as her head lifted the piece of fabric up and exposing her to the rest of the light.

The first thing she thought was she definitely didn't fall sleep with her contacts in, because everything was blurrier than an abstract watercolor painting. Normally though, she could make out shapes and shadows, thus she could easily navigate without her contacts or glasses, so by the insane blurriness, she must be elevated at a huge height.

That really didn't make her feel better.

Haruhi did not like heights, ever since she fell one day when helping her father with the roof, breaking her wrist.

Panicking slightly, she recalled how she dipped at the very bottom of the Venus fly trap thing, like there was no solid surface of something, and the pull of gravity was stronger. Jerking her head around she stared and sighed slightly in relief when she could make out the fine details of the fabric. Then she was thrown for a second, as even if she was wearing her newly prescribed glasses the details should never be this good. Hell, it was an arms length away from her, but she could still make out the individual weaves! At this distance that shouldn't be possible. And it stretched on and on, way past her ability to see where it stopped. Indeed the green fabric seemed to curve and arch up into something vaguely black.

Her breathing became heavier and more panicked as something shifted uncomfortably around her. She was now micro aware of a faint rise and fall-almost like the ocean tides.

"Eureka!" She shouted, and patted herself down. Pulling her glasses out of her hoodie pocket and stuffing them on her face, she blinked as her vision adjusted to the new perspective.

And then promptly gasped as the memories came river rushing back with the sudden flow of clear images. She owl twisted her head and shoulders around and found Kakashi looking at her with the most awkward expression she had ever seen on someone.

Seriously, he looked like a preteen discovering how babies were made.

She normally would have laughed hysterically with no qualms at that thought, but seeing his one hand hovering like a silent helicopter to her left, with the index finger extended to poke, she flushed in embarrassment. And titanic sunk back down in what she now knew was a pocket. He had obviously witnessed her mini freak out and now that her mind-cloud was gone, she was starting to freak even more. What she had just done was out-of-character for what she supposedly was. And no, the irony didn't escape her that he was a character himself.

Poke.

"Be right there!" She responded.

This was all supposed to be a dream! But if she woke up from a dream...then this must be real! She grabbed her hair and her breath came out in short, quick, gasps. She started rocking back and forth, trying to calm herself. Her hands fluttered around her hair, trying to get it to lay down flat and brushing against her chapped lips. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, She grasped the inside of the pocket, and lifted herself up carefully, angling her body towards Kakashi's face.

She internally cringed as she saw him staring down at her, probably judging. Not saying anything, he moved his hand like a flying saucer and laid it flat less than an arms length away. Getting the memo, she blushed minutely, maneuvering herself onto his hand with relative ease. The hand curled loosely around her, palm up, lifting her up to face level.

For a second she considered he maybe had the Sharingan in both eyes, because his gaze was intense and she couldn't seem to look away.

She could tell he was grappling with emotions -she just couldn't tell what ones.

Damn ANBU training and mask!

He was giving her an appraising look, while slowly lowering her on what she now realized was a marble counter. Hopping of his hand, she stumbled a bit, grabbing the edge of her hoodie to nervously fiddle with it. She shivered slightly when the pads of her feet ghosted over the cold marble top, and slid around to face Kakashi.

"...Since you are going to live with me, there will be some rules you need to follow." His eye narrowed with his serious tone, and she gulped, nodding hastily.

"Rule one: don't make a mess."

Like she could.

"Rule two: don't get in the way."

As long as he didn't get in her way.

"And rule three," he said with a creepy eye smile, possibly because he noticed her disgruntlement.

"Do not touch my Icha Icha."

Wasn't that the orange book with the scantily clad women on the cover?

"What's Icha Icha?" she spoke slowly, tossing the foreign title around in her mouth.

At this, he froze up, and looked at her before narrowing his eye and sighing.

"All for the better I suppose."

She narrowed her brown eyes. Or course she would be stuck with a pervert. Kakashi was hopeless and his looks were truly wasted on him.

An awkward silence descended upon them both. Him staring at her, and her staring at him. Shifting from one foot to the other, part to keep up her image(because she was nervous and this was how she defended herself), she wondered if this whole fake personality thing was worth it. She could still stick to her story, but faking an entire personality wouldn't be a hard thing for him to see through.

Ah, who was she kidding! She really was nervous! Pretending she wasn't would only make it worse!

And he was still staring at her.

With a tiny gasp, she realized he was waiting for her to make the first move. It figures someone as socially awkward as him would wait for someone else to go first.

Looking up and away from the fascinating blown up marble, she full on looked him in the eye.

"I'm hungry."

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled. Blushing, she thought it wasn't her fault but whatever. Tea for breakfast and an apple probably wasn't enough. Neither was toast and jelly.

He continued to stare his one visible eye widening comically, taking up an amused glint. He glanced at the counter behind her, and if she didn't have her glasses on and if everything wasn't bigger and amplified, she wouldn't have noticed his minute flinch and weariness in his eye.

Following his gaze and turned to see the most beautiful ceramic fruit bowl she had ever seen.

It was a solid head (in relation to her) size bigger, and was decorated with glowing green vines that wrapped around the base and top lip like lace. Flowers of all shapes and sizes started from the bottom and moved upwards as if a stray gust was blowing them along the wind. It was glazed to perfection-she could see a faint outline of herself next to a white jasmine.

It was a fine work of art. Something Haruhi could appreciate.

The only thing, she thought as she leaned over the side she had shimmied up, that could make it perfect, would be if it wasn't as dry and empty as the Sahara desert.

"U-uh." He stuttered before clearing his throat. He was at the fridge in an instant and she felt a slight draft in the room from the motion. She skittered to the side of the counter trying to see if there was any food in the fridge. Stretching on her tippy-toes, she pouted as her efforts were foiled when he glanced over his shoulder and shifted himself in her line-of-sight, blocking the fridge's contents. One second of silence later and she realized something.

She had the sudden epiphany that he didn't have people over too often-although that wasn't much of a revelation.

She had an empty fruit bowl on her counter too.

Her face softened with compassion. He probably didn't have any food in his fridge, for all his wealth from missions, he probably had no one else to spend it on.

Or maybe he was cheap. Probably both.

Sure enough, when he hastily closed the fridge, she peaked under his arm. Pristine white shelves empty, and just plain depressing.

She quickly cleared the expression off her face and replaced it with one of curiosity. He was now looking at her with a slightly lost expression, and if she hadn't watched the anime, she wouldn't be able to tell either way. Again, she had to fight to keep her bleeding heart from showing, as he looked like a lost puppy. He didn't know how to take care of her, and judging from the lack of fresh food, he didn't know how to really care for himself either.

"It's okay." She said." I'm not really hungry."

Her stomach growled and he dragged a disbelieving eye from her face to her tummy and then back.

Great. Now he probably thought she was a liar.

Which she was, but still.

"Maa, It's time to go shopping anyway." He said, reaching behind to rub his head. Smoothly, he then removed the hand and laid it flat on the marble to the right of her. She jumped, before flushing. She was excited because it was pretty exhilarating to be going out. She knew with how skilled Kakashi was that he wouldn't drop her.

Probably.

Slowly he lifted her to shoulder height and stared, not knowing where to put her.

She smiled lopsidedly like his hair, and pointed to the pocket she had just been sleeping in.

A flicker of understanding passed over his face, and he flicked open the top of the vest pocket with one finger and slid her in. Snorting in amusement, she wondered if this was how baby kangaroos felt.

He opened the door and walked out, her hanging on the corner of the pocket, pulling herself up to peer over the edge.

She blinked. Then promptly gasped.

Konoha at dusk was beautiful.

The shop lights glowed in the dark like fireflies, crisscrossing over the main path and across the street to connect with brick, wood and stone. Ally ways were swept and sprinkled with green leaves from trees of every shape and size that seemed to fit themselves in every nook and cranny they could find. The sky was half filled with clouds shaded with pink, orange, purple, and gray, which tinged the shop windows and everything else a light pink.

Finally the mountain with the four faces carved in it took her breath away. The details and general shape was intense. It was awe inspiring.

"It's beautiful." She whispered breathlessly.

A peaceful mood settled over them, much like the pink tinge from the clouds over the village. The sun was already hidden by the trees. But still, there was an undertone of tenseness; Kakashi's chest was like an iron board under her feet.

Eyes were wide and taking in every shop and person that walked past. It must have been a holiday (judging by the hanging decorations), as a lot of shops were closed. Even more for the night.

In the distance she thought she could make out Ichiraku's Ramen.

As they walked, she could make out a store that still seemed to be open. As they approached, she could tell it was a grocery store, with fresh fruit(some unfamiliar) lined up in the front.

He walked silently and ghost like into the store, grabbing a basket and heading over to one of the aisles with the fascinatingly wrapped food.

So involved with taking everything in, she didn't notice Kakashi had stopped and was speaking. She was in the middle of a staring contest with a dead fish (spiritually connected) when she felt a tap on her head.

"Buh!?" She said articulately. Why did people keep doing that!?

"What would you like, exactly?" He responded with a bemused undertone. She defensively tensed. Was he laughing at her?

"U-uh, it doesn't really matter. I don't think I'll eat a lot in comparison." It was nice of him to ask, though, though that should have been obvious.

He hummed in response, and continued to browse the shelves, picking up foreign food items and putting them in the basket. Her tummy jumped with excitement (or was it hunger?) at the thought of eating the new food. When it seemed he had all the ingredients, they walked over to check out and Kakashi placed the items onto the counter. She watched, completely absorbed.

The cashier drowsily added up the price before stating the final cost.

"That'll be 4- Oh! Hatake-san! I haven't seen you in awhile!" they exclaimed, snapping out of their funk really quickly.

She felt him shift awkwardly. The man simply did not do social interaction.

"Ahh, been busy." He sweat dropped.

"Preparing an home-cooked meal I see. Better than those nutrient bars for sure!"

N-nutrient bars?

Haruhi grimaced.

The cashier continued to chatter happily in their bluebird way, putting their future dinner into a brown paper bag. When they were finally done, Kakashi picked up the bag, positioning it on the right side of his chest-away from her, and waved goodbye.

"Bye! Hope to see you again soon!" With a jolt, she realized she hadn't bothered to read for their name, so into the bagging process that she was. With a small smile, she thought she could just find out next time.

They started the journey back, the sun having long since set. While still alive, the village was silent and mostly still. Stars were twinkling between the tree leaves, and the leaves themselves hushed in the wind, almost as if telling them to be quiet.

She ignored them.

"What are we making for dinner?" She asked inquisitively.

He didn't respond at first, probably pulling himself out of whatever funk he was in. By this point, they had made it back and he swiftly shifted balance and closed the door behind them. He reached over and deposited the bag on the counter. She took the initiative to pull herself up and out of his pocket, running down his carefully still arm and onto the table. She had pretty solid balance, actually. She used to be that neighborhood kid who stood up on the bike seat with no hands.

"...I was thinking something simple." He finally responded, unpacking vegetables and rice on the stove adjacent to the countertop. She started at this, before nodding, standing unsure next to the tomatoes. He pulled out a pan that looked like it hadn't been used in ages, and set it on the stove top. He poured some oil into it and turned on the heat.

"Can I do anything?"

He turned to look at her with an appraising eye, almost asking 'what could she do'? And while she was still small, she wasn't weak, with an innately muscular build. She was sure she could muscle something over. So with that, she flushed slightly but determinedly held his gaze.

She wasn't helpless.

"Can you get out the onion?"

Taken aback, she blinked, before nodding and making her way over to the bag. If memory served her correctly, he didn't get anything glass or something that could be spilled if tipped over. If she lifted from the bottom and shifted over to the side, she could lay the bag on it side and could walk in like she owned the joint.

Not that that in itself posed a problem. The smooth counter was almost friction-less, and coupled with the paper bottom she wouldn't be able to tilt it over. Only move it.

She smirked.

That's all she needed.

First running over to the corner that connected with the wall she got a stack of napkins. Hidden behind them was an almost empty glass salt shaker. While she could pick it up and carry both things over individually, she needed to conserve energy-especially now that the shaker was a lot heavier. So she rolled it over and on top of the stack and proceeded to drag the napkins over the counter and to the bowl with little effort.

Going back and arriving at the bag, she grasped the side in her fists, and pulled it over until half of it was propped up against the beautiful fruit bowl. She walked around to the front of the bowl, dragging the napkins and salt. She lifted the salt shaker onto the edge before she climbed onto the rim herself. In reaching distance of the top of the bag, She jumped up and grasped the corner, landing on the head of the shaker. The top of the bag bended slightly in her direction.

Making sure the corner wouldn't rip in her grasp, She wrapped her legs around the shaker and swung herself over the side, tilting the bag with her momentum so it wouldn't fall into the bowl. She heard the bag's contents bump together as they went down.

"Timber!" She whisper-giggled.

The bag tipped over-and on top of her. She and the saltshaker landed safely on the pile of napkins she had place there previously. She wriggled free and rolled from under the bag, huffing all the while.

Standing up, she dusted herself off and walked around and into the gaping bag. Imaging herself to be Indiana Jones, she picked her way through veggies in the hooded bag and gave a squeal of victory when she finally spotted the onion. Using the other, heavier, objects as leverage, she pushed off them and pushed the onion out of the bag.

Breathing heavily, she blinked as she emerged from the bag. As she looked around she was presented with a new problem. She had no way to get the onion over to Kakashi. She briefly thought about using the napkins again, but with them being under the bag, it would be hard to get them out.

Maybe she could...roll it?

Getting behind the onion, she experimentally gave it a push and let out a delighted laugh when it actually moved. Sometimes the answer was more simple than the question.

She fell into a pattern, pushing one side and then another so it would stay balanced and wouldn't roll over the bump where it was cut.

Huffing and puffing big bad wolf style, she stopped it inches away from where Kakashi was cooking, sinking down on the cool marble and sighing as it made contact with her cheek.

Her eyes fluttered open when she felt the onion being lifted away from her.

She bleary watched as he took a chopping knife and shaved the loose skin off. He started out slowly, like a musician who hadn't played in awhile, before falling into a rhythm faster than she could see.

It really smelled nice now; the frying onion filled the air and the sizzling veggies was pure torture to her hungry belly-especially after that workout.

Still she was delighted. She considered it a huge triumph getting the onion over here. Most people wouldn't think twice about something so trivial, but then again, she wasn't in the most normal of situations.

So caught up in her thoughts, she didn't notice he was done cooking until he cleared his throat-inches away from her.

Shrieking, she jumped up again, before turning and scowling at him.

"Do you enjoy scaring me or something?" She asked angrily.

His eye curved into a smile.

"No need for that. Dinners ready."

Ha! He thought that could calm her down! Satiate her fury!

He was absolutely right.

Throwing him one last annoyed look, she ran back over a foot away from the brown paper bag, which was now mostly empty. There was a chair there he intended to sit on, and a glass plate that contained the stir fry.

A giddy feeling filled her like the meal soon would. Kakashi didn't have to cook an entire meal, he could have just gotten take out so she was touched, really.

Even if it was just for his mission.

The both settled down to eat, her grabbing a fried tomato and climbing the bowl and him sitting on his chair.

She painstakingly made sure to not look at Kakashi while he ate.

He made this meal, so he should enjoy it.

She paused to swallow thickly, and abruptly realized she was the only one eating.

"Hey..." She spoke hesitantly, giving him a warning. Slowly lifting her head she looked him full on with a serious sincere expression.

"Thank You."

Hey may have been a socially lacking manchild, and only doing this for a mission, but at least he was nice.

His eye widened in shock, which looked comical with his stuffed squirrel cheeks under the mask. A tension she had noticed before left his shoulders, body relaxing.

"Maa, no problem." He waved dismissively at her, resuming his chewing.

She still couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Her being here was very intrusive, and as a shinobi it had to have put him on edge.

Despite that, a content atmosphere settled in the kitchen and along their shoulders.

Haruhi smiled as she bit into the crispy tomato. Whatever happened next, she knew they could work it out.

If she had chosen that exact moment to look up, she would have seen a small smile on his lips as he enjoyed the food, and a considering look on his face as he thought about her.

* * *

 **There we go! I want to create a solid foundation for their relationship I can build off of for the rest of the story, so it'll be awhile before the plot takes off. Ja Ne!**


	5. Clean Up your Act!

_In which basic hygiene is practiced and Haruhi is L._

* * *

Dinner was amazing. She wasn't expecting something from this backwards world to be so good, but she could taste the onion and other spices in the tomato, and it left her with a warm full feeling inside. She was at optimum state to fall asleep.

There was only one problem;

She had nowhere to sleep.

After much fanfare she had found a rather cozy pillow in the living room and just decided to sleep on that.

She knew for a fact Kakashi wasn't gonna sleep tonight, paranoid about her presence. Seeing as she had a power nap in his pocket earlier, she was having trouble falling asleep too. So even though she was exhausted from the onion thing, she couldn't sleep.

And she was also worried.

Might as well do some planning now.

She knew much more than she should have. About Konoha's society, and the way ninja's worked. Never being to Konoha before, she shouldn't. The best she could do was reveal nothing at the beginning, and ask a lot of questions. The longer she spent here, the more she could let slip, as anyone suspicious would assume she had picked it up from everyday life.

How long would she spend here?

Kicking her feet, she twisted like a cat onto her stomach, stretching her arms out ahead as if reaching for the answer; only to pull back with fists curled on empty air.

She wouldn't know the answer as long as she didn't know how she had gotten here. And asking how would be suspicious as they had established she was a summon. God, she wished this world full of child killers and accepted state approved assassinations wasn't real.

This was fine though. She could adjust. And with that, she adjusted herself one last time, arm sliding over the sinfully soft stitching that smelled really nice, and drifted off.

...

She woke to a soft nudge that rolled her entire body over. Not bothering to do anything at all, she calmed her heart and sunk lower into the strangely nice smelling pillow. Until she was nudged again and this time slid off the pillow.

She didn't even have time to scream as she slide of the edge, back smacking the wooden floor, leaving her momentarily breathless. She gasped for air, doing her best impression of a trout on a river bank. A brief flash of panic when she realized she couldn't make out anything, having taken her glasses off. It was made even worse when she couldn't check her hoodie pocket for them, being unable to move in all. Concentrating, she felt their slight weight against her lower belly, and would have sighed in relief if she wasn't trying so hard to breathe. Seriously, what knocked her off!?

She blinked, but didn't bother to squint as a huge shadow suddenly eclipsed her, leaning over the pillow she was just knocked off. It was vaguely circular shaped, with two bumps on either side.

"Hey. Girlie, you were sleeping on my pillow."

Well fuck them. Waking her up and almost killing her. Not like she wanted to be in this warped, backwards world, stuck under the care of a man who couldn't even care for himself.

"I'm a woman, not a girl." She said defensively. Just because she was tiny now didn't change that fact.

The blob snorts, probably thinking to her five inch tall frame. The action is strangely animal like...

Finally regaining mobility, she slowly reaches into her hoodie pocket and pulls out the green frame and slightly smudged lenses and puts them on her hair covered face. She blinks once, twice, and wishes the fall killed her.

Because, staring down at her in a mixture of amusement and annoyance, is a dog.

She hates dogs.

Unconsciously, her hand moves to the back of her left thigh where a faint white bite scar resides. Dogs are loud, terrible for sneaking out, not as soft or fluffy as cats, they drool, and poop all over your yard. Plus they kill you. You never hear of a house cat killing people, do you?

She slowly sits up, not breaking eye contact. Her legs are tense with the urge to run.

"Let's start over. I'm Haruhi." she manages around the lump in her throat.

"Pakkun."

Pakku-shit. Like Kakashi's right hand man-er, dog?

Ah, she thinks.

"Well Pakkun, could you explain why you pushed me off the pillow" She asked as politely as she could.

"My pillow." He corrected in a less than amused expression. He probably smelled her dislike or something. Whoa, wait a second, his pillow!

"Yes." he answers verbally.

"You're stinking it up. I thought humans were supposed to be hygienic. "

And that was it. Her self esteem now smaller than she was. A Fucking dog just told her she smelled bad and he was probably right. She hadn't changed her clothes or had a shower since she got here, however long ago that was, and if he was telling the truth and this was his pillow, well, she recalled it smelled amazing, like floral green.

Shit, she was sympathizing with Sakura so hard right now. She never thought she would, considering she hated the character, but whatever.

"Right, where's Kakashi?" She asked briskly. Because they were getting shit done as soon as she found him.

"Not here."

So Kakashi sent his summon to watch her as he did whatever? Cool, but she needed to know when he'd be back. A stab of annoyance went through her; he better be quick with whatever he is doing.

"Where is he? When will he be back?" She tries for the hell of it. He doesn't answer her, just giving her the most done look she had ever seen. And that was saying something as she's been in public school her entire life. He was either out reporting to the Ninja dictator, at the memorial rock stuck in a spiral, or doing god knows what.

She sits up and surveys the living room, mindful of the dog not far away. It has a couch, table and bookshelf, all empty. No pictures really hang on the wall, and the room is in mostly neutral colors. She wonders if the other rooms are this empty, and if so, where does he keep all his stuff? Spotting the hallway on the other side, she stretches, well aware of Pakkuns hot breath against her back, and starts walking.

Her glorified babysitter barks in question, hopping the pillow like a hurtle and land a little to her left. Barely controlling her flinch, she turns and speaks;

"Can you show me where the bathroom is?"

He blinks, obviously surprised. He was probably thinking she would ask for Kakashi again. But she was a fierce, smelly, independent woman and she would make it to the bathroom and clean herself up.

"Hop on. I can get you there."

...Hop on?

Her breathing picks up, and she wipes her sweaty palms on her sweatpants.

"I'm good, man. I can just go myself."

Pakkun shook his head.

"I gotta watch you. Just climb on." He leaned down next to the pillow, clearly indicating for her to climb on.

Haruhi took a shaky breath, before slowly approaching. She touched his shoulder and fluinched backwards, but when nothing happened, she grabbed hold and swung her leg around his neck.

Her stomach swooped when he stood up, and she giggled, anxiety being replaced with amusement as they padded down the hallway.

The stopped in front of a closed door.

They both looked on, stuck.

"It's not locked, it it?"

"No."

"Can you open it?"

She slid off his back. Standing up on his hind legs, he wasn't nearly tall enough. The pads of his paws pressed uselessly against the hardwood. While he was able to leap tall trees in a single bound, this was much more delicate, and she doubted his jaws could turn the metal knob. She frowned, and went into her L from death note mode.

Observing her surroundings, the hallway was mostly empty. The floor was hardwood up to a point, ending just after the wooden table. The table itself would still be too short to reach the table. She frowned, then gasped slightly as an idea hit her and started mumbling under her breath.

Pakkun gave her a (justified) strange look.

"Haruhi, what are you talking about? Have you figured out a way to get in?"

"Yes." She answered honestly. "But i'm going to need your help."

She carefully explained the details of her plan to him, clearly impressing him. "You have a good head on your shoulders. Lets see if it works." She smiles for the first time that morning.

And with that, they ran over to the wooden table. Pakkun, doing most of the heavy lifting, grabbed a corner with his teeth and gentle tugged it the few feet towards the door. Because it was all polished hardwood, it slid easily enough over the surface. She stood off to the side, shouting directions to Pakkun.

He tugged the three legged table over against the door. Phase two was in action. Pakkun let go of the leg, licking his jaws. Leaning over again, she jumped up and grabbed his blue headband with the Konoha leaf symbol on it, and wrapped her hands into the blue cloth. He tensed, then jumped. She felt her stomach being left behind on the wooden floor as he landed onto the flat tabletop.

Slowly jumping off the side of his headband, she looked as he stood up on his hind paws and was now tall enough to reach the knob. Taking both of his front paws, he placed them on either side and very carefully twisted.

Click.

Pakkun shifted his weight and the door slowly swung open. Pakkun barked victoriously and she whooped. He jumped down and dragged the table to wedge itself between the door and its frame, so it wouldn't close and trap them in.

Eyes widened as they took in the darkened bathroom. Her vision turned towards the wall, looking for a light switch. It was to her right, to high to reach and located in a place to small for Pakkun.

This looks like a job for Wonder Woman!

She glanced at the hand-towels hanging from a rack in arms distance from the edge of the table. Still in L mode, she reached over and grabbed a handful, and started climbing.

"I'll catch you, so you don't have to worry." Said Pakkun. She shot a grateful smile his way in response.

She shimmied to the side, ignoring the drop below her, until her feet landed on the white counter. Sighing in relief, she carefully walked over to the dark wall and jumped up on the protruding tile rim. Standing on her tippy toes she was just tall enough to grab the other light switch facing downwards in a reverse grip and pull herself up to flick the lights on.

The sudden fluorescent lights made her eyes sting for a second until she became used to it. Looking around she noticed a mostly blank counter, with a soap dispenser in the corner. This was probably the guest bathroom.

"Haruhi." Pakkun piped up like an particularly helpful video game tutorial "The mirror should open, and hygienic products are inside, if you can figure it out."

"Thanks!" Maybe dogs weren't so bad. She still didn't like them.

She frowned when faced with a new problem. How to get the cabinet open? It wasn't locked, thank god, but she couldn't reach that high. Idly, she walked over to the yellow soap dispenser and pushed it over the counter top to the side where it should open from. Grabbing hold of the plastic wrapping she hoisted herself up and sat on the plastic head, soap spritzing out.

She watched as it leaked down the front and suddenly had an crazy idea.

Hopping off, she stood on the tall flat handle for the hot part of the sink and pulled it over next to her, Jamming the flat, shovel headed tip into the crack, she let go and the mostly empty bottle of soap stayed wedged there, sticking out on a 45 degree angle.

Grinning she stopped the clean sink and turned of the faucet.

"Pakkun, i'm going to take a bath, don't look and warn me if Kakashi's coming." And with a grunt of agreement she turned back to the matter at hand.

She hesitated for a moment. She needed to take off her clothes in order to take a bath, but what if someone saw? A self conscious hand rested on her chubby stomach. She glanced down at Pakkun who had his head turned away. She stripped and readied herself and jumped onto the bottle, Propelling all her weight forward and releasing her inertia. With a shutter, the glass cabinet opened slightly, and she and the bottle fell back into the water filled sink.

Swimming to the edge, she hauled herself out with the emergency holes in the side of sinks in case it overflows. Panting and butt naked, she looked into the contents of the cabinet. Like most of the house so far, it was pretty empty. It had a case of floss, toothpaste but no brush, and-

-A TRAVEL SIZED BOTTLE OF SHAMPOO!

Grinning, she climbed the shelves like a baby climbs a staircase, and knocked it over. It fell into the sink with a splash. Grabbing the tooth paste, she unscrewed it, grabbed a blob, and stuck it in her mouth, cause she'd be damned if that wasn't nasty smelling. She then took the cap and stuck it on the hook that would lock the cabinet-just in case. Finally, She takes a long string of floss and ties knots in it. When she deems it's long enough, she cuts it with the corner built in the box.

Carefully climbing down, She lands on the handle again. She reached around and tied the knotted flossing string around the neck, and jumped back in, satisfied she'll be able to get out easier next time.

She washed her hair and takes care of other things while she's at it, making small talk with Pakkun. When he offers his shampoo to her, she draws the line. Carefully taking her undershirt, she washes that and her other clothes, spending extra time on the soup stains in her pants.

When she's done, she ties one end of the mini bottle to the string and pulls herself out.

She goes up to the stopper at the back of the faucet and pulls up, draining the now cool water. Pakkun helpfully grabs a washcloth for her and she towel dries herself, knowing her hair take awhile to dry, due to how thick it is.

After putting her boy shorts underwear and sports bra on the edge to dry, she leaves her other cloths items on the corner on the cabinet shelves to dry.

"Pakkun, Catch me!" She shrieks, wrapped in the washcloth, and jumps off the side.

She lands on his back and slides off onto the red plush bathroom carpet. Both of them walk under the table and into the kitchen. She decides Pakkun isn't so bad.

They appear to have impeccable timing.

Kakashi walks through the door, carrying brown paper grocery bags with fresh food. He doesn't notice her for a moment, kicking off his sandals and locking the door, but when he does, he stops in his tracks.

They all stared at each other, him taking in her drying, naked state wrapped in a white cloth, and her taking in his full arms and less so wallet. Pakkun poofs away.

She grins and he looks on with apprehension.

"Don't get too comfortable, Kakashi. Were going clothes shopping."

* * *

 **This chapter is important due to what we learn about Haruhi's character and thoughts on the Naruto world. (I also don't own death note)**

 **Her comments on the Naruto world shows she thinks its a backwards place where she doesn't want to be. Her defensive disposition when dealing with Pakkun and undressing shows her insecurity. Her thoughts on Kakashi shows she is judgmental about the world as a whole and impatient.**

 **Overcoming her fears about the dog bite on the back of her leg and talking to Pakkun despite her fear shows her bravery. Her plan to open the door shows her ingenuity, along with moving the onion. Her ability to bounce back and smile while making small talk with Pakkun shows her adaptability and good nature.**

 **That may seem obvious to some, but others asked for clarification about her character. Also, she is roughly 5 inches tall.**

 **See you!**


	6. The Shop Stop

_In which clothes are bought and ice is broken._

* * *

 **Shout out to my main girl, this ones for you.**

* * *

He blinked.

She grinned broadly, her fresh teeth glinting in the light coming from the door.

He swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing under the mask.

She leaned to the side, washcloth riding up one of her legs. His one stupefied eye following the motion. She guessed it was a transition, from only seeing her in oversized sweatpants, to suddenly covered only in a washcloth.

"I am going to put these away." He stated blandly, and walked to the connecting kitchen.

Poor, awkward Kakashi.

Now that Pakkun wasn't here, she really had no other option but to watch him. Besides, she was hungry, dinner was last night and she just did some intense maneuvering. Walking through the goliath opening, she watched as Kakashi methodically put fruits in her favorite bowl and perishables into the fridge.

Cool beans.

From her position on the tile floor, she wasn't sure she could actually make it up onto the counter and into the fruit bowl. He had chairs, but way too big for her to move, and the sides of the counter were polished wood-no climbing that.

"Hey, could you give me a lift onto the counter?"

He pauses and looks at the washcloth toga like it's was an alien. Feeling the need to reiterate she licked her lips and spoke under his gaze.

"I'm hungry and the fruits on the counter in the bowl."

He didn't reveal his feelings at the simple answer, and instead slowly walked over to her. She tensed at feeling the vibrations, even though his steps were soundless. He splayed the back of his hand against the tile and watched as she glided over, cautiously kneeling on his gloved palm.

The giddy swoop in her stomach made her giggle as she was deposited directly into the fruit bowl. Part of the cloth covered her face and by the time she removed it, Kakashi was gone, probably putting groceries away. Looking to her left, she spotted a bright orange clementine.

Perfect.

Shuffling so the clementine was blocked by her Julius Caesar robe, She took the small, sharp piece of metal that had been used to cut the floss out of her bra, and made an slit into the orange skin. Hastily putting it away, she ripped at the new opening so Kakashi wouldn't know she had mutilated his floss. Not that Pakkun probably wouldn't tell him all that he could.

As she chewed a slice the size of her forearm, she wondered what was taking kakashi so long. Climbing as quickly as she could while juggling her dignity and the slice, she stood atop a pear and watched him slowly put packaged ham away.

Why was it taking him so long?

Narrowing her eyes, she continued to watch him. He seemingly avoided her gaze as he came back to a different part of the counter to unpack.

"Did you see your friend at the check-out as last night?"

He seemed to take that as an opportunity to stop.

"Yes. Night shift." He stayed still a bit longer, almost as if hoping to put off unpacking as long as possible. Before sighing and resuming.

"Are we still going?"

He didn't react, like the trained elite ninja he was, and continued what he was doing. Which was unpacking the groceries. Slowly.

"Quit stalling!" She suddenly shouted around a mouthful of clementine.

This time he did react, freezing for a split second, before going so fast he turned into a blur. All the items were put away in three seconds, and he was suddenly standing in front of her, slouch in all.

She didn't even blink, too used to it. But she did shriek when he suddenly grabbed the washcloth, making her drop the orange slice. He lifted her, dangling like a baby in a sling, over the side of the bowl and onto the counter.

"Maa, soon."

"Oh! How soon? Like in five minutes?" She asked, immediately rebounding. She sat up, clutching the front to her chest as it was slipping off both shoulders. Unbeknownst to her, his eye followed the movement in a suitably dumbfounded gaze.

"Now sounds fine."

"Cool Beans!"

She shuffled up, in that awkward way you do when you make a snow angel and are trying not to ruin it.

"Pocket time? Cause if we're going shopping i'm not sure you want anybody to see me." She thought that was reasonable. Plus she didn't want to meet anybody knew without her fancy new slacks.

He slowly wrapped his hand around her middle, seeing as she couldn't exactly stand well. Lifting her to the pocket he asked;

"Can you fit?"

"You calling me fat!?"

He sweat dropped, panicking slightly as he didn't really know how to deal with mad women.

Or really, women in general.

Chuckling in good humor, she grinned impishly as a mischievous idea crossed her mind.

"It's all good, man. I can fit, but only if I take off the washcloth."

...

He said nothing, living up to his namesake as a scarecrow. It was a look of absolute shock and slight fear. She grinned, happy she could read him so easy.

"...Are you sure you can't fit?" He sounded slightly strained.

"Well yeah I could, but it'll look funny and its wet."

Frowning slightly, she rolled off his palm and quickly into the cover of the pocket. She was right; it was crowded and uncomfortable. Grinning, she unwrapped herself and threw the damp washcloth out, the pocket flap hiding everything except her arms and head.

She was now naked in Kakashi's pocket.

In a lighting quick move, she watched his hand catch the washcloth in a mechanical action as if his brain had short-circuited. Ducking back in to hide her shoulders, she cheered;

"Let's go, Kay-Kay-She!"

And with that, he took his usual slow steps towards the door. Opening and then closing the door, she blinked and smiled happily-the air smelled fresh and dewy. It seemed to be a school day, with kids carrying books all in the same direction. Good. Looking closer, she noticed some of them were wearing ninja sandals and had weapons pouches. The academy? With a stab of fear and excitement, she wondered if she'd see any of the rookie nine.

"Slow down Kiyo!"

"We can't be late for the test!" She shouted back faintly to her friend. Maybe they had a unit exam thing? At any rate she felt Kakashi tense slightly. It must mean something to him and because of that, was important. They moved out of the residential section, and the houses melded into markets. Trees popped from alleyways and the cobblestone street was dappled with shade. And while the road was pretty, she'd like to know where it was taking them.

"Do you know any places?" She asked. Waiting in silence for a bit, she peeked out and turned upwards. He was blushing slightly and staring ahead, coming to a dead stop-in front of a toy store. Porcelain dolls with lacy dresses filed the windows. Their version of barbie was decked out in ninja gear.

Good to know they started the indoctrination young.

They stayed put right outside the shop. Kakashi's fingers had stopped inches away from the door handle, and now stood frozen in the air.

"Aw, is Kashi-kun afraid of a door handle?" She cooed.

Craning her neck again, she yelped and almost fell out of the pocket as he took a sudden step forward and opened the shop door with a single, slow, push.

The bells on the handle were ominously silent.

There wasn't much activity going on in the store, as most of the kids were at school or still asleep. A bored employee was putting away handmade dolls in a glass case behind the cashier. Kakashi approached again, walking at a snail's pace.

He stood silently in front of the desk. The employee continued putting the intricate dolls away, having not noticed the silent Kakashi. He awkwardly cleared his throat.

The girl started, whipping around and clutching the dolls to her chest, looking on with shock. Then doing a double take when she saw the vest (but not her) and the obviously masculine appearance. Now she had nothing against guys and dolls, it's just seeing a Jounin in their little shop was surprising.

"Is there anything you need help with, sir?" She asked, recovering slightly.

"Yes, I have a...special order. Can I speak to the manager?"

"Of course, be right back."

The employee disappeared into the back room. Soft talking could be heard before muffled footsteps headed towards them. The girl came into view, hands clasped in her front and smiling sweetly.

"You can go in back. She'll see you. Call me if you need me!" And with that incredibly good service, Kakashi headed towards the door with a soft 'thanks'.

The back room was slightly darker than the main shop. Scraps of cloth for doll clothes laid around, and broken dolls and missing plastic limbs were in piles in the back, waiting to be repaired. She was slightly intimidated. In the very back of the room, in a very comfy looking chair, sat an older woman. This lady didn't look like she didn't messed around, with glasses sharpening her gaze, and long nimble fingers with callouses at the ends. She turned an interested eye towards them.

"What special accommodations do you need? Cloth repair? Or new doll clothes?" She fired off questions.

"The latter, please."

She leaned towards them slightly and patted her desk expectantly.

"Show me what i'm working with."

He heart was beating rapidly and her palms were sweating. She was peeking over the top, still concealed-but not for long. She was feeling incredibly vulnerable, wishing she had just brought the washcloth with her, even if it would have been uncomfortable. Bravely, she said;

"Kakashi, put me on the table so she can see." And with that, she rose, supporting herself by pulling on the corners and lifting her head and shoulders into view and giving the woman an lopsided, nervous, smile.

She gasped in shock and openly stared, an expression probably not seen often. Her eyes scanned over what she could see of her from the pocket.

Kakashi lifted his hand and pointedly looked in the other direction and she timidly climbed onto his palm. Taking a few steps, she stepped off onto the table and stood, shivering slightly, under the awestruck gaze of the woman. Her arms crossed in front of her chest, and she raised her thigh to cover the v of hair between her legs. She wished she had something to cover her belly.

She must have been a sorry sight.

"Do…" Haruhi struggled to talk past the lump in her throat. "Do you think you'll be able to make clothes for me?"

The awed expression was quickly toned down, and a snort left her.

"Don't insult me. Come over here so I can get your measurements"

Unexpectedly, she started to tear up. She guess she didn't realize how much it meant for her to get new clothes until she realized it was possible. Nodding frantically, she moved closer to the dollmaker, who was pulling out a coiled measuring tape. She stopped where the lady directed her too and waited, trying to collect herself and halt her slight sniffling.

The woman held the metal tip against her side, and she flinched as the cool metal raised goosebumps.

"Hold still..." the seamstress mumbled, wrapping it around her waist.

She did her best impression of a statue. She really wanted new clothes and definitely didn't want to mess it up. So she turned when prodded and out of the corner of her saw Kakashi's head starting to turn towards her. She was supremely uncomfortable.

"Give her some privacy boy! A Woman deserves her privacy!" The seamstress snapped at him. He tore his gaze away, embarrassed. She giggled, mostly amused he got told off and grateful. The seamstress winked at her and she grinned back. She sensed a future bro.

"I'm Haruhi."

"Kasumi."

"Thank you for doing this, Kasumi. It means a lot to me."

"Every self-respecting woman needs a decent wardrobe. And you did look quite sad, standing there naked..." Kakashi choked in the background.

"Uh, thanks?"

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you so small?"

She hesitated, not knowing what to say. The Hokage didn't specify if he wanted her to be a secret or not. Luckily, Kakashi stepped in.

"She's the result of an unfortunate jutsu accident." That was actually a very good cover story, especially since he was wearing the vest to back it up. Kasumi harrumphed and shook her head. Scratching down all the measurements she tossed her head towards the back of the room, where spare mismatched clothes were in separate plastic containers. Pieces of doll furniture were also there.

"Pick as much as you can carry. Clothes and furniture. These won't be ready for awhile" She said, gesturing to the new notes.

Shocked, she couldn't stop stuttering her thanks. Since the table spanned the room, she ran across the wooden top and all the way up to the boxes. Kakashi, who was determinedly avoiding looking at her still naked body, helped and opened some of the boxes for her.

A cute pink frilly dress-No.

An ugly box brown shirt-No.

An ankle length skirt with army green vines- Not her style.

"Picky." Kakashi said in amusement, watching the clothes land in a pile to the side.

Finally, she found something that suited her. A light Forest green tank-top with dark trim that was cut to reveal the sides, and a pair of baggy cream shorts with golden peaches(and pockets!) on them. Quickly putting them on, she ran in front of his line on sight (which was trained on the rejected pile) and he flinched before fixing his gaze on her.

"Hows this?" She spread her arms.

"...It suits you." He said simply, looking on intensely.

She grinned happily, blushing.

"I know."

After finding a couple a couple more items she liked, Kakashi opened some of the other boxes with the mini furniture. They picked out a bed, chairs, a table, miniature bookshelf, and a ton of other things. Heading to the main part of the shop, the girl had gone to the front to clean and Kasumi was checking them out. Sorting their things she asked what color bag they wanted.

"Pink."

"Black."

Kakashi and Haruhi made eye contact, her grinning. She would love to see him carry a pink bag all the way home. He had a different idea.

"Are you sure you don't want that pink dress?"

Scowling, she gave in.

"How much?" Kakashi sighed, looking back to the manager.

"It's on the house. It's not often I get customers like this."

That definitely made him happy, as he perked up and eye smiled. Picking up the bag in one hand and her in the other, he inclined his head and walked out the store. She climbed back into his pocket, happy with her outfit. Amazing what it could do for a girl.

"...We could always go back for that pink dress."

"Shut up!" She shouted in mock anger, and punched the vest. If anything, it amused him, as evidenced by his shaking shoulders.

All in all, it was a good start to their day. Hopefully, it would stay that way.

* * *

 **Haruhi is roughly 5 inches tall, btw.**


	7. Eye to Eye

_In which connections are made and_ _mischief_ _is managed._

* * *

Oh my Gosh, So many of you have followed and Favorited me! I decided to make this chapter a bit longer than normal to celebrate. To 50, Everybody!

* * *

Again, the walk home was short and sweet. They spent it in a peaceful silence, her jovial with her new clothes and he was just happy to be out of the toy store. She even thought she heard him humming, but that could have been the fat lazy bees in the flowers they had just walked past.

The humming was addictive, and soon she found she couldn't help herself. While she had never joined anything like band or choir, she still loved music. She couldn't read music to save her life, mind you, but she had very acute ears, that picked up a tune and could follow it note for nameless note.

She was in the middle of humming Tiny Dancer by Elton John, when felt the weight of an inquisitive gaze.

"Do you like singing?" Kakashi asked, cutting her off.

"It passes the time and it's fun!" She responded without shame, and continued humming her song.

Far off and blocked by trees, she could make out the Hokage mountain, which seemed pretty colorful for a slab of rock. It looked like someone painted stuff onto it.

He shifted balance again, and opened the front door. They were greeted to a quiet house, clean wooden floors, and mostly empty walls. Dust danced in the light streaming from outside. She was hit with the smell leftover from last night, cooking oil and fried vegetables lingering in the air. She wondered what they would have tonight.

She was surprised to find herself looking forward to it.

He slouched into the living room, leaving his shoes on for some reason, and put the bag onto the coffee table.

Looking at the bag full of furniture she asked;

"Where could we set up shop? what would be a good place to put all this?"

He glanced around.

"How about that book shelf." He stated more than asked.

She jumped off the low table, sunlight catching her hair and the soft rug catching her. Kakashi picked up the bag and placed it by the book shelf. She surveyed the books. Most of them were ninja scrolls, the recent ones bound tightly. A couple hardcover books and paperbacks were also evenly spaced behind and next to the scrolls. They were short and fat and tall and thin. Some had uneven pages and others had golden edges, and some were just normal. It was a bit dusty.

It was her dream come true. The entire shelf went up to Kakashi's hip-so relatively short. Perfect for her. It was also out of the way of the hallway, offering some semblance of privacy. Her favorite feature, however, was the sliding door. It was big enough to cover half of the book shelf at anytime, and could slide like a glass shower door to each side. It had two levels with a single wooden shelf. It was Awesome and convenient.

"That, would be amazing!" She said shrilly.

He unpacked, pulling out miniature furniture and bundled clothing. He placed the around her, in front, and on top of her!

"Hey! Not on me!"

"Sorry about that. Need a hand?" He said, leaning over and plucking it off her, not sounding at all sorry. Rather amused actually. She was too, but for the sake of comedy she acted angry.

"I can do it!" She puffed. Standing up on all fours, she stood up and tossed her hair back. He sat down on his rear, criss-cross applesauce and ready for a show. She proceeded to push around the mini-bed and chair, occasionally asking him for help, and swearing angrily when he laughed at her. She put her little space in the middle, so it was blocked by the door but still had light bouncing off the laminated book covers. If it ever bothered her, she could always move a scroll in front of it.

"Say Kakashi," She asked, wiping sweat from her brow, "Is there some sort of light I could have? Like a mini electric candle?" She wasn't sure if they had that here, but she figured it was worth a shot.

"Hm, I think so. I pick one up later."

She continued to move things around before stopping, leaning against a book.

"Phew, that was exhausting." She grinned wearily up at Kakashi, who eye smiled in response.

"Do you think that's an okay place to put it?"

"Hmm." He regarded her new place of resting with a critical eye.

"It seems fine."

"Will people be able to see it when they walk in?" This was a loaded question. She was purposely searching for information as to who could potentially find out, and to gauge if he had any friends.

"You should be fine. Not many people come over here." Well, that was depressing. He must still be smarting from ANBU.

"Wait, can people see me? Like, were you given specific orders for me not to be seen unless necessary?"

He turns the critical eye onto her. And that's when she realized he wasn't fooled by her dumb act. Not for a second. She goes in back, pretending to check on the arrangements and internally screaming. He probably caught on when she got that stupid onion out of the bag. Gah! She was so stupid! While he may not know the full extent of her knowledge, he was definitely suspicious. She had originally just wanted to help and yeah, maybe she was insecure being so small, and maybe she wanted to prove she wasn't useless.

Pulling herself together she turns around and half expects his face to be right behind her. But as she emerged from behind the door she found he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello?" She called out, slightly worried. Kakashi had vanished, seemingly having left the room. Looking down, she noticed she could just crawl on the books. A bigger one on the lower shelf had tassel she could use to get down. Climbing down like those firefighter poles at the park, she landed on the wooden shelf before jumping off onto the carpet. She ran past the pillow from last night, all the while searching for Kakashi.

She stopped in a dead halt before her feet hit the wooden hallway, still searching for signs of Kakashi. Damn ninja. She immediately noticed the slip of light in the hallway, coming from a crack in the bathroom door. Noticing the table moved back to its originally place she gulped.

Oh.

That's what was taking him so long. He went to the bathroom and discovered the mess she left behind. Cheeks burning she jumped when he called her name.

"Yes?" She called, heart pounding.

Running up to the door, she slipped inside. The bathroom looked completely different from the floor. She couldn't see the sink for one.

Kakashi, the man the myth the legend himself, was standing and staring point blank at the sink. She jumped onto his pant leg, and being a champ at the rock wall, climbed up to sink level and jumped off.

She cringed. The sink was left to drain, but the water has left stains on the white marble. The toothpaste had been left open and a little had leaked onto the counter, while its cap was still wedged onto the latch. The string of floss was tied like a noose on the neck of the faucet, and the bottle of shampoo laid on its side, perfuming the air. The soap bottle had leaked all over itself and was leaned against the cabinet. Finally, her pants, shirt, hoodie and...other articles, were all hanging limply from the first shelf. She had been so caught up in her success she had forgot to clean up. What a genius. Her self-esteem was taking a hit.

Looking up, she found Kakashi looking down at her with amusement.

"Been busy?" He teased.

"S-sorry."

"Maa, I don't think I've ever seen you this shy." He teased."Oh, wait. In the shop, in the Hokage's office..."

"Hey! Stop making fun of me." She scowled, crossing her arms and tossing her hair over her shoulder. Suddenly remember why she went looking for him in the following silence, she looked on nervously.

"Why did you leave so suddenly?" She didn't like to admit it, but his disappearing act spooked her. She had become very dependent on him. Sensing her insecurity, he eye smiled reassuringly;

"We were working so hard, It seemed like a good idea to wash my hands and get started on dinner."

"Oh! that is a good idea!"

He just raised an eyebrow, before moving to tug off his gloves. Slowly, he pulled them off and lathered his hands with soap, righting the bottle.

He washed his hands slowly, turning over each one under the lazy, warm water. He dried them on the same towel she had parkoured on, them turned and seemed to say with his one eye 'your move'.

Pouting, she stuck her tongue out at him before slowly moving over to the soap bottle. Scooping some off the front, she turned and glanced at the streaming water before slowly wrapping her legs around the neck and scooting until the stream trickled over her feet. She leaned down and around the tip, moving her hands back and forth in the spray.

Hearing a stifled chuckle, she looked up to see Kakashi with his best innocent face on.

"You enjoy watching me struggle, don't you?" She said blandly.

An eye smile.

Figures.

Deeming her hands clean enough, she scooched back carefully until her toes touched the counter top. Holding her wet hands in front of her, she shuffled over to the towel and dried her hands. She was slightly shaking, now that she wasn't near the warm water.

Turning around, she jumped slightly, as his face was inches away from her-again.

"Chop chop." He eye smiled, probably smirking under the mask. Laying his palm flat next to her, she brought her shivering frame over to his hand and almost sighed in relief when her thigh brushed the warm thumb. Properly seated, he walked put in the hallway and towards the kitchen, having magically cleaned while she has dried her hands.

He made his way into the kitchen, wood being replaced with tile, and set her on the counter.

"What now, Mr Clean?" She joked.

He thoughtfully hummed in response, heading over to the fridge. Shuffling around in there, he pulled out a wrapped package and set it on the counter, a bit to her left.

Having not put his gloves back on, he unwrapped the paper and revealed a set of 4 raw chicken breasts.

"Are we going to make this all?"

"No." He dismissed.

"If we do, there'll be leftovers!"

He froze in realization.

"I love leftovers." He murmured gleefully.

That settled it.

He had laid them all on to one big plate, before rooting around in the fridge some more. All the while, she was happily swaying in the background. He pulled out some veggies from the fridge and spices from the cabinet. She ran along them, identifying cumin, parsley, and a bunch of others.

Bringing out the oil, He let it fall in ropes into the frying pan and turned on the stove. Carefully, he took some of the veggies and started a stir fry. He bent over and out of sight and came back into view with a giant pan. She giggled when he deliberately took spices, sprinkled the chicken and placed them around her in a circle, like a sacrifice. Good to know he had a sense of humor.

Opening the oven and sliding the pan in, he closed it, and rushed over to the stove. He picked up the spatula and moved the veggies to cook. The smell from last night had never really left, but now it was back tenfold, and filled with the smell of roasting chicken. Her mouth was watering, and it was much more appealing than the smell from when she had first got; it smelled like a hospital.

While he cooked and she read the labels she swore she could hear someone humming.

Or that could have been the sizzling vegetables cause it was pretty off-key.

Now Haruhi had a philosophy. Eating food with someone else, was a sacred thing. It was like sharing life. There's a reason why food is involved in the majority of religious rituals. Eating with someone else peacefully is an act of communion. She firmly believed it's why they got along decently last night.

It was a peaceful silence, filled with cooking and wind from the darkening outside, and her humming. She had picked up where she left off.

Eventually, the stove tinkered off and the oven lights went out, signifying the chicken was ready. The white oven door opened smoothly, and the roasted chicken smell rolled into the kitchen.

Pointedly looking away, She took a piece of potato and chicken and happily nibbled on it.

"Hamster Haruhi..." Kakashi thought out loud.

"Ha!" That was actually pretty good. With the ice broken, she reciprocated in kind.

"Koala Kakashi." She heard him choke a bit on his food. Take that! He probably didn't expect her to rebound like that.

They bantered a bit through bites of food, her being careful not to turn around. She was in the middle of telling him ones of her best punchlines, pacing furiously back and forth.

Then she tripped over the corner of the plate.

Shrieking, she fell over the edge. Her veggie piece fell on the counter and a startled gasp left her. Hair whipped around in her face, and for a second she was airborne.

Time slowed. Her heart thudded in her ears as the tile approached.

Then quick as a flash, a hand caught her.

She was shaking and her arms were pinned to her side.

"T-thanks. Thought I was a goner." She chattered.

"No problem." He seemed to be checking her over.

Placing her on the counter again, she roughly sat down next to her dropped dinner. One hand finger combing her hair, she tried to use the other to get up but failed. A fingertip appeared out of the corner of her vision.

"Ah, thanks again." Grabbing it, she pushed up and leaned on it very briefly.

"Well, it is my mission to protect you."

"Y-yeah." She was going to pretend the flush was adrenaline. It wouldn't even be a lie. She was right to believe she could count on him to catch her.

Looking up, she caught one last concerned look before he suddenly stiffened.

"What's wrong?" She asked, worried. Was it a ninja signal?

"Maa, I'm sure it's nothing. Wait here." He was gone in a flash, mask now up.

He left her! On top of the counter with no Pakkun! And with now cooling food!

She put her food down, to worried and upset to eat. What could have caused him to leave so suddenly? Well she wasn't a helpless damsel, that was for sure, so she gathered up the paper bag and despite her newfound apprehension, made sure it had no hole in it, and wrapped each handle around her fists. Then jumped.

It was a head rush for sure, and she landed heavily onto the ground. Undamaged, she ran over to the window and stared intently as if it would reveal all the answers. A hawk flew past. She knew they were used for Konoha's messaging system for important events/emergencies. And at his urgency it was probably the latter.

What emergency could have cause him to poof like that?

* * *

He suppressed a giggle, running on the balls of his feet and into the back of the library. He normally wouldn't step foot in a place like this, but times like these called for it. His sandles made dull thuds as they pattered across the carpeted floor and around tables.

He paused behind a shelf and scratched his hair.

What had Mizuki-sensei said again?

He snapped his fingers in realization. The secret room with the forbidden scroll was hidden in the back!

Mizuki-sensei said there were, uh, Jenjutsus hiding it, but if he took a left at that bookshelf and stopped at that floorboard...Ah Ha! Naruto disable the traps and slid through the formerly hidden door into the black room. He fumbled in the dark for a second, before pulling out a lighter from one of his pockets and flicking it on.

Immediately, tall shelves filled with ominous looking scrolls greeted him, stacked eight feet high to the ceiling.

He walked slowly and carefully, scanning the labels.

He just passed a withered yellow one when another pristine white scroll with a symbol appeared in his vision, dancing in the light of the flickering flame.

He scratched his cheek and squinted.

This wasn't the right scroll, so why did it capture his attention so much?

"…"

Because it had the Teme's clan symbol on it!

Naruto released a growl, and made to grab the scroll, his thoughts angrily racing with images of the Teme. He thought he was so great! He thought of Sakura-chan, and how she liked Teme instead of him.

Shouts stopped him.

Naruto pulled back as if burned. The door was still wide open, and he had a clear view of the library, the moons light streaming through windows. Ninja were standing in the middle discussing where he was. Luckily, the jenjutsus still held, and they couldn't see him. But he would have to hurry. His Sexy jutsu would only keep the old man down for so long.

He moved on. He could always come back for it.

* * *

Well maybe she could finally use her prior knowledge for something.

She slipped back into L mode.

He had left ANBU, but by the state of his house he wasn't as socially healthy as he was when he became team sevens sensei. She needed to better grasp just what time frame they were in.

Gasping, she jumped up. Running into the hallway and slipping slightly on the smooth wood, she tried to find which one was Kakashi's room. She chose a random one at the end, and wiggled under the door. Too bad she couldn't do that for the bathroom. But because this had a rugged floor on the other side, it had give and she just barely fit.

Gasping for breathe (the bottom of the door squeezed it out) She looked around. It was slightly more lived in than the rest of the house-but that wasn't much. She was having seconds thoughts about being here, as Kakashi was a man who values his privacy. Looking around quickly she didn't spot the group picture anywhere. Confirmed. But judging on his appearance and the state of Konoha, it was long after the Nine-tails attack.

Maybe she could figure what happened from the trips into town?

She remembered bumble bees. Oh, and the ramen shop. They had fantastic service at the doll store and apparently he didn't get out much. The Hokage mountain was colorful and the people walking about seemed fine, especially those academy kids. Two of the girls were talking about something and one was running ahead. It was a big day apparently.

They had a test-OH!

Was today the day Naruto and the rookie nine became ninja!?

If she was right, sundown was about half an hour ago, Naruto must've already stolen the scroll! That was why he left.

Well, now that that was cleared up, she had nothing to do. She didn't think she could sleep. Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking. Everything started today.

...Could she get to meet the rookie nine? Team seven?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, she was getting ahead of herself. She wasn't even sure how long she was going to be here, and even if it all wasn't some dream.

Wiggling back under the door, she jogged into the living room and headed over to her book shelf. She doubted she could sleep, but maybe a couple of the books would be interesting. Hopefully enough to calm her trembling hands. Even though she knew enough not to be worried, she couldn't help herself.

Looking at the available books, she strangely found a mixture of Japanese scrolls, and a strangely formal English writing. It was a gardening book. And that was cool. She herself had had a vegetable garden back at her house. Her parents had left her with a small suburban household with a big yard on the edge of a Forest preserve. Deer would sometimes come and eat her plants, so she had to put a fence up.

So she pushed it open on the floor and started reading.

She didn't know when she started, but when she stopped, the sun was peeking through the windows and Kakashi was framed by its light, leaving him in a glow. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight. He looked tired, his one eye drooping and figure slouched more than normal. He crouched down. His hair looked like silver and the rest of him was highlighted in the ray's. His eye was striking with fractured grey colors shimmering in the sunlight and dust dancing around him.

He was alright.

She breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't even know she was holding, and his eye drifted over to her. He glanced at the gardening book and then to her, a glint lighting up his formally tired eye.

"Planning on starting a garden?"

"Why not? Since you love veggies so much." She responded, relief evident in her tone. She stepped in the sunlight, in order to get a closer look at Kakashi and to make sure he was alright.

She heard a quiet gasp as she blinked the light from her eyes.

He was incredible looking up close. The light fell to reveal ruffles in his clothes, and he smelled like the air coming into the house and dinner. His posture was tired but was now shocked. He didn't tense anywhere so thankfully he wasn't hurt.

Her eyes roamed upwards, and finally connected to his wide-open, shocked ones.

He was staring directly at her, and his dilated pupils were encircled by a ring of cloud grey irises. The wide black reflected her entire body, and the morning sun made her absolutely glow, and penetrated her glasses. The rim of which, almost completely covered her more-prominent-than-usual eye bags. Her almond eyes were clearly reflected, and splashes of orange-brown were visible beneath black lashes. Her hair looked like her mothers, with tight black curls which framed her cheekbones and prominent jaw line. Dark pink lips were pulled into a relieved smile, And the sides of her tank top had risen up to reveal the sides of her hips.

She looked pretty good for someone who had stayed up the entire night.

The magic that had unknowingly descended upon them was suddenly broken when his eye darted away, a shade of pink settling on his cheek under his eye. He nervously scratched his cheek.

She blushed too, shifting on her feet.

"Is everything alright?" Are you alright? She asked quietly.

His eye darted back, and softened; sensing the real question.

"Yes. Everything's fine." He was still looking at her, and must have picked up on her other question.

"Sorry for leaving you so suddenly. I'll make it up to you."

She started, as he had correctly guessed what was bothering her. His eye then turned up into that familiar smile.

"Get some sleep. We have a lot to do later on."

* * *

And were done! With the chapter that is. I needed to set everything up so they had a stable friendship-thing going on. But now that everything's established, I can start with the plot!


	8. Introductions

It was a hazy sort of relief.

Because all of that was just a dream. She sunk back into that static blissfulness, surrounded by the smell of books she had probably left in her room. Her head filled with white noise, she stretched her toes on the full sized bed, and wrapped herself in the not tiny sheets. She wasn't stranded and definitely didn't almost fall off a counter.

What a weird, vivid dream. For some reason, she had dreamt she shrunk down and into another universe. That couldn't possible be true though, as she had the evidence to back it. She was sleeping on it. A full sized bed.

"Haruhi..."

Did she leave her alarm on? She was on winter break.

"Get up, Haruhi."

The voice sent tingles down her spine. It sounded hesitant and distinctly male. Slightly amused.

Did her friends break into her house again?

"Go away. Sleeping." She then ignored the warm draft in her room. Must have left on the heat.

"But it's a big day today."

Why did it sound so big? And who was this? She distantly remembered planning something.

She cracked her eye open.

Ah. Big indeed.

"No." She was staring directly into Kakashi's Face. He was leaning over her and was decidedly not staring at her. He had pushed back the door on the bookshelf slightly so that he could lean over and wake her up. The warm draft was actually his breath, somehow, through the mask, and no wonder it smelled like books!

"That's not very nice."

"Waking me up isn't very nice. I was having a nice dream."

"Well I suppose it doesn't matter if were a little late..."

She bolted up and he flinched back, startled.

"Late? For what?" Was it Naruto? If she recalled, team seven were the last ones waiting. She bunched the sheets nervously.

"You'll find out." He said, eyeing the movement and studiously avoiding her gaze.

"Well, we have to get ready then."

She shifted the sheets over and place one, then two feet on the wooden shelf. She figured they could have leftovers for breakfast. He cleared out of sight, probably heading to get ready himself. So, yawning, she passed some dressers with clothes and arrived just past the plastic book covers to the thick textbook with the tassel. The room hadn't changed much, except Pakkun's pillow was now gone. The sun was also higher- a little before lunchtime, she'd say.

Quickly running back, she flung open a dresser(wedged between a short, stumpy children's book with gilded pages and a blocky one with a indescribable title) and rifled through clothes. She changed into green baggy capri with pockets that had golden buttons (she loved pockets) with ties that hugged the calf, and a beige background T-shirt with a golden-green grass pattern.

It may sound silly, or a girly things to do, but dressing nicely made Haruhi feel better, and she wasn't ashamed that she liked clothes, and liked to do beauty routines. It made her feel pretty.

She ran back out and rappelled down the crimson red tassel. She gently touched down on the wooden shelf, before jumping the inch onto the carpet.

Taking a second to balance, she stood from her crouch and ran towards the kitchen, sliding a little when the pads of her feet made contact with the slick tile. She jumped over a crack in the tiles and ran up to Kakashi, who was taking out the leftovers. Called it.

Deciding she was done with being lifted everywhere, she ran to the wall below where a painting was hanging. Feeling the floss blade securely in her bra, she took it out and cut off the thick rope from the paper bag. She could feel Kakashi watching her curiously, but whenever she turned, he looked away.

"I could help you."

She jumped. Looking at him, she couldn't tell what he was thinking, as he was still facing the fridge.

"I want to see if I can do it by myself first."

Finally, much like when she wrapped her hands around Pakkun's headband, she wrapped her hands around the rope. Running up to the wooden leg, she threw the rope over the lowest rung and caught it on the other side. Tugging it, she put one foot, then two against the leg and walked up sideways. She repeated this until she stood on top of the chair, still a good foot away from the counter.

A rustling was heard, and the bowl of fruit she loved so much was pushed into view and a finger conveniently flicked a banana over, in reach of being grappled by her makeshift rope.

She grinned. What a softie.

Now up on the counter, she sighed. Kakashi had heated up the chicken. She ran over and sat down next to the plate. His finger twitched. It went without saying she avoided looking at him. Not wanting to step on the plate with her dirty feet she asked;

"Kakashi, could you rip a piece off for me?"

"Sure."

He reached over, having ripped off a piece of the chicken. Reaching out, she grabbed it with both hands. His finger twitched slightly.

"Thanks."

"Hm." She hated how suddenly awkward things were. And they had been making progress too!

As she nibbled thoughtfully on the food, she couldn't help but think of when he called her 'hamster Haruhi'. Did she really look like one?

Anyway, she was starting to stink again. Finishing up, she wiped her hands on a nearby napkin that might as well have been a bed sheet, and said;

"I need to wash up."

He almost choked on his food. He finally looked at her, a reddish tint to his face and squirrel cheeks under the mask.

"Who's a Hamster now? Anyway If we're going somewhere I need to get cleaned up."

He leveled a stink eye at her, swallowing all the food in one gulp.

"Can't have you messing up my bathroom again..."

"I said I was sorry!"

"Kidding, Kidding..."

Another silence, except unlike last time it wasn't companionable. She had an idea.

"Do you have a old mug you don't use?"

A weird look.

"Yes, I do. What were you thinking?"

"Well, maybe you could fill it up with water and put it on the bathroom counter instead."

A very weird look.

"Hear me out!" She put down her leftovers, and ran in front, dramatically windmilling her arms. He seemed to shake off whatever was bothering him and raised an eyebrow.

"Just get an old mug you don't use anymore and fill it up with warm water." She explained.

"It'll be less messy and use less water!"

And that's the story of how Haruhi took a bath in a chipped tea cup with mint green lining. Kakashi had fumbled around in the shelves a little bit, and had unearthed the teacup. An interesting array of cups and plates had found a place next to the ceramic bowl and her, and a cookie jar with cute bee's on the front ( buzzing a little over her head) was found to have fossilized cookies in it. Kakashi had been even more sheepish than the time when there was no food in the house. It was cute honestly. She had laughed, smiled, and reassured him it was alright, and his barely there blush that had seemed to become a permanent fixture in the morning hours, shone a little brighter.

Speaking of a glow up, she might as well have been the sun. It was a tea cup, and it was only appropriate to put tea in here. She had grabbed a green-tea bag off the counter and had him pour the water over it. She had always heard how good a tea bath could be for you, but had never been able to do it at this scale.

New clothes and a beauty routine. For the first time since coming here, she felt like a person again.

He probably would have thought it to be super weird, but with all that already happened, it rolled off his shoulders like water.

She kicked over to the edge of the teacup and looked around the bathroom. A new hand towel had been chosen. The sink gleamed, the tile floor had a circle of carpet, the toilet was closed, and, from what she could see from here, the shower was bone dry.

A quiet had descended over the house, the type where you know instinctively know one but you is home. She was stuck between wondering if he was doing sensei things or had gone to get groceries again.

Deciding she was getting wrinkly, she pushed up on the rim, and stepped on the teacup handle.

Water trickled down the side, much like when you're driving through a national park and there are mini waterfalls on the sides of the road.

Did they even have paved roads here?

God.

She walked over to the pre-put out washcloth and patted herself dry. She dressed herself in the clothes she had changed into this morning, and slid down the knotted thread Kakashi had tied to the corner of the sink. The door was cracked open, so she just walked right out.

She didn't know how to explain it, but the atmosphere seemed to change.

She wasn't alone.

"Yo."

Whipping around, she came face to snout with Pakkun. Squashing down her justified fear of dogs, she gave a tiny smile of relief.

"Hey." She jerked her chin, damp hair going back.

"Kakashi will be back soon, so get what you need."

Well she already had everything she needed. Shoes were impossible, she had her clothes and security blanket/makeshift knife, so she was good. They waited together for a bit in the living room, her pulling out some of her clothes to show Pakkun. She refused to admit it, but the dog had a nice sense of aesthetics.

"You two seem to be having fun."

Kakashi was standing in the hallway looking in. He seemed completely unconcerned about the time. She grinned and held up her bra.

His eye briefly widened before turning to look at the clock, suddenly concerned.

"We'd better head out." He rubbed the back of his head.

For someone who reads porn, Haruhi thought it was laughable the way he reacted around bras.

Walking over, he laid his palm flat on the shelf a little bit to her left. She put back the clothes on the table and ran, slowing down when she came to his carefully still hand.

Reaching out, she placed both of her palms on his, and shifted her weight onto her knee. Rolling over she came to a stop in the middle of his hand, over the fabric of the glove. The pad of his pinkie touched her back.

He stood and lifted her to the pocket. Knowing the drill, she stood on her toes and fell headfirst into his pocket.

"Oopf!

Not much had changed. Maybe the pocket was bouncing slightly as he held in a laugh, but it got quiet pretty quickly.

She righted herself as she felt them walk outside, signified by the change in air pressure.

She kept her head down mostly, as it would have been unsteady to peak her head over the top. Her thigh and back pressed against a incredibly tense chest. Sighing in frustration, she remembered how suddenly... skittish, Kakashi had become around her.

Or maybe it wasn't her.

Could it have had something to do with that alarm yesterday? Is that why he was so tense?

Probably. She really needed to stop being so defensive.

She felt a tap through the pocket. Standing up as best she could, she peeked over the top. He was looking down at her with a hooded, careless eye. She had never seen him with an expression like that.

"Haruhi. It's important you're not seen."

She nodded and sunk back down-but not all the way.

Solid steps indicated they were indoors again, with no gravel or uneven pavement underfoot. His footsteps made no sound. Distantly she heard someone being told off.

Kakashi stopped, and put his hand on a cracked open door. A startled silence could be felt from the room within. He pushed open the door, stepped inside, and a chalkboard eraser fell onto his head. A cloud of smoke washed over him like a veil, temporarily blocking her from sight.

"HAHAHAHA! I GOT HIM, HE TOTALLY FELL FOR IT!"

"I'm sorry, Sensei! I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen! I'd never do anything like that!"

Overwhelmed, she slipped the rest of the way down to the bottom of the pocket. And she didn't need to see or hear Sasuke to feel the judgement rolling off of him. She felt Kakashi take a shallow breath.

"Hm, how could I could I put this, my first impression of this group; you're a bunch of idiots."

Sweatdrop.

...Well, he wasn't wrong. All three of them were pretty pathetic if you ask her.

"Meet me on the roof."

And with that they were gone. Moving so fast she was plastered to the back of the pocket, she was thrown forward when they stopped, presumably on the roof. Splayed awkwardly in the pocket, she almost screamed when a gloved hand reached in and grabbed her!

Pulling her up, the green flap brushed against her hair and foot. Her arms were both resting on top of his index finger. One leg was wrapped completely and the other was sticking out between the middle and index fingers.

"When I told you not to be seen, sticking your head out to watch the three genin is not that." He fixed her with a hooded gaze, somehow piercing.

"Okay, sorry." She snarked back. He didn't do that familiar eye smile, but he did shush her and move his thumb over her mouth mischievously. He dropped her back in the pocket, and just in time too; the genin arrived on the roof top.

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time."

"Introduce ourselves, well, what are we supposed to say?" Sakura asked skeptically.

Oh no! She was missing it! She shifted down in the dark green, a sliver of light being provided by the cm of pocket he had left open. No way to peak.

"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that." He added as an afterthought. Crossing his arms she was pushed slightly up.

Taking her makeshift knife out of her cargo pants, she carefully wedged it between the blown up fabric. She paused.

"Why don't you tell us stuff first. Before we talk tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work." Naruto said.

So not a complete idiot. But he had to be a little smart, dealing with the village's hate.

"Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate. I don't feel like telling you that." Surprised gasps.

"My dreams for the future" He said almost grandly "I never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies." Yeah, like looking after a woman the size of one of your fingers.

Sakura grumbled to the other two and Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Okay your turn. You on the right, you first." He almost twitched.

Naruto then launched into a tangent about ramen. This was her chance! Arms aching from being still for so long, she carefully cut as best as she could in the near darkness. Sweat dampened her forehead slightly. Just a bit more...

Ah! A tiny bolt of sunlight directly hit her one eye! Flinching back, she blinked repeatedly and carefully leaned forward to the tiny light. Looking through was an experience. Her glasses squashed lopsidedly against her face and she had to hunch slightly to stay on balance. But there they were.

Naruto was wiggling his forehead protector up and down, and explaining his hobby.

"And my future dream is; To be the greatest Hokage, then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!" At this point Naruto stopped wiggling his protector and clenched a fist by his face. Kakashi was carefully still.

"Alright, next." She pressed her face closer.

"I'm Sakura Haruno..." She was actually a cute kid. Too bad it didn't make Haruhi like her.

Yeah, Sakura was a preteen girl, but when Haruhi was her age she sure did not act like that. She didn't know a single girl in real life who did, actually. Much less a whole class, which seems to be the case here.

Sakura had a blush on her face and gave the unresponsive Sasuke a sideways look. Sasuke himself, wasn't looking anywhere in particular, but as Haruhi studied him closer, she noticed his jaw clenching, and unclenching, along with the muscles in his calves and forearms.

Tenseing.

Untensing.

Tensing.

Untensing.

Getting impatient, Kakashi said,

"And, what do you hate?"

"Naruto!" Said boy jumped as if he had been electrocuted. This was love-stricken Sakura, basically a useless fangirl. She wouldn't get much better either.

"Last one."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything." Gasp from Sakura. Haruhi frowned, noting how blunt Sasuke was, and how he didn't seem to pick up on Sakura's hurt expression.

"What I have is not a dream, because I will make it an reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone."

Wow.

His hands were clasped and a serious expression was on his face. This was a revenge driven I'm-better-than-you, Sasuke. Annoying as shit. Haruhi could smell the inferiority complex and insecurity rolling off of him. And it's not like she had much room to talk when it came to insecurity, but this was a lot. She couldn't stand people like this.

A stunned, unsure silence had fallen across the rooftop. Naruto was looking sideways at Sasuke, obvious apprehension on his face. Sakura looked like she had never quite seen him before.

"Good. You're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto excitedly asked what kind.

"It's a task that the four of us will do together."

"What what?!"

"A survival exercise." His voice, if possible, got an octave lower.

Cue complaints.

"A survival exercise." Sasuke muttered under his breath, voice oddly blank.

"This is not like your previous training."

"What is it then?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi's shoulders shook from ominous closed mouth laughter, throwing her off balance and away from the tiny hole. She scrambled back.

"What's so funny?" Asked an almost pouting Sakura.

"Hmm well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it." He said almost sing-song, and continued laughing.

" _Of the 27 graduated who just came here, only nine will actually be accepted as genin. The other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is an make-it-or-break-it pass-fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least 66 percent_."

Holy shit Kakashi, don't kill them. She could sense the change in atmosphere from the pocket. Looking back out, Naruto went slack jaw and blank eyed in shock, Sakura lost all expression, and Sasuke somehow became more serious.

"See? Didn't I tell you you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?!"

"Oh that. That was just to select candidates who might become genin. Or not."

"That's how it is. I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5AM and bring your ninja gear."

All three of them had intense looks on their faces. Naruto's lips had been pursed into a thin line and looked like he was whacked in the face with a broomstick. Sakura went from looking at her hands to Sasuke, shaking. Said boy didn't change his facial expression a bit but his hands were slightly trembling.

"That's it, you're dismissed. Oh, tomorrow you'd better skip breakfast or else, you'll puke." And with that helpful advice, Kakashi waved his arm and left.

The walk home was slow and quiet. She didn't know how to deal with the sudden change in attitude from Kakashi, and he was deep in thought. He absentmindedly opened the door, and they were greeted to a quiet house. The smell from cooking the chicken had mostly dissipated, and it somehow seemed empty and sterile again.

He gently took her out of the pocket, hand wrapped around her waist. She tilted her head, worried. Not looking at her but at the wall he walked over aimlessly and deposited her on the counter before turning and walking away.

"Wait, Kakashi!" She ran up to the fruit bowl and stood on top of the rim. He stopped, back still to her.

"Have some food Haruhi. I'm busy." Within a second he was gone. Dammit! She crossed her arms frustratingly.

It was currently physically impossible to get the leftovers out of the fridge. Fruit for dinner didn't sound appetizing but it looked like her only option. She still couldn't believe he had left her on the counter! Again! Fuming, she rolled over into the fruit bowl and landed on a softening pear. Shifting around, she spotted the barely eaten cutie. Since it was already open from yesterday she grabbed another slice and took a juicy bite. It soothed some of the rumbling. But what it didn't stop was the worried feeling deep within her stomach.

Kakashi had been tense ever since this morning. Was it nerves? Was seeing his sensei's son emotionally stressful to him?

Whose bright idea was it to make Kakashi team sevens sensei? He was still clearly recovering from trauma, reading Icha Icha as a coping mechanism. Putting him with his dead Sensei's son, another traumatized boy exactly like him with an older brother he worked with, and a girl exactly like Rin.

That was a recipe for disaster.

Why couldn't she have gotten Genma instead?

She put the slice down, suddenly losing her appetite. Being so small, what could she do to actually help? She couldn't even clean up after herself. A feeling of helplessness settled over her shoulders.

What could she do to help him?

She got up from the bowl. There was surprisingly still daylight left. Kakashi had probably went to his room, and it wouldn't be wise of her to breach his space again. At the corner of the counter, even though it wasn't practical, Kakashi had took thread used for sewing holes in ninja clothes and hand fashioned a rope much like the ones in gym class. Climbing down was tedious and her arms were already aching from earlier. She could have used some help.

She walked past the eerily silent hallway and into the living room, where birds were chirping right outside the window.

She gripped the book tassel with her hands and climbed up. Weaving past books, scrolls, chairs, and tables, she made her way to her bed. Today had been exhausting, catching a few Z's early wouldn't hurt. Somehow, it was still hard to fall asleep.

...

Something was off.

Her eyes snapped open to be greeted with darkness. As they adjusted, she could make out the plastic book sleeves and the corner of the polished shelf.

What had woken her up?

No one would have been insane enough to break into Kakashi's house, so was it Kakashi himself?

Slowly sitting up, she stepped out of bed and to the edge of the shelf door. The living room was bathed by moonlight. The room was colder than it should have been. She grasped the tassel and hit the bottom shelf. Walking with arms crossed past a giant table leg, she stepped into the hallway. The draft was coming from here.

At the end of the hallway, his door was open. A faint smell of pine reached her.

She paused.

He was obviously upset earlier. She had no right to go into his room. He probably wanted his privacy. But what if she could have helped? And then didn't? Could she do anything?

But instead of going towards the room something pulled her towards the kitchen. More specifically, her grumbling belly. If she walked in there and then started growling she would throw herself off the nearest counter.

Quiet as a mouse, she padded into the kitchen,

And came to a dead halt.

She wasn't alone in here.

She wanted to run and tensed up to do just that; something stopped her. The dark figure was hunched over the counter. Their hands were clasped together, their head was bowed, spiky hair falling over their face.

"Kakashi?" she whispered.

This was bad. Kakashi was having a panic attack and there was nothing she could do. What the fuck could she do? Give him a hug?

'This isn't about you!' She screamed at herself. This was about what she could do, not what she couldn't. Running below the painting, she grabbed the thread and climbed record fast to the top.

She cursed whoever decided to put him on team seven. It probably induced this flashback.

From this angle she could see his face.

It was still covered, but his eye was wide open and seeing things that weren't there. The pupil was dilated and the lids were stretched wide open. He looked like a scared animal. It was trained on her.

He was dangerous.

Only to late did she realize her mistake. He could kill her right now, and she'd never go home. She started shaking too.

But she couldn't leave him like this. He needed her.

She slid behind the fruit bowl.

"Kakashi? It's okay. Nothing is going to hurt you here."

She was so unqualified for this.

She took a shaky breath, and turned her body to see behind the fruit bowl-

-and directly into his uncovered Sharingan.

She screamed, and fell backwards off of the counter.

A flash of silver and the breath was driven out of her.

She was jerked to a halt, a merciless hand gripping her-inches away from the hard tile floor. Trembling, gasping like it was her last breath,and crying slightly, she clutched his gloveless hand.

Maybe it was the feeling, of her shaking like a leaf in his hand, that snapped him out of his episode.

"Haruhi?!" He gasped in shock, eyes trained on her.

She didn't respond, being unable to form words.

"Did you fall of the counter again?" He said in disbelief.

"Let go...too tight." His hand that was still clenched around her immediately loosened.

...

"Did I do this?" He looked on in shock and dawning horror. Staring at his hand and her in it. She laid on his palm.

"No! I...fell off of the counter again. I was hungry and slipped in the dark. You must have heard me scream."

"Let me look." She froze carefully. He lifted up her shirt and inhaled sharply.

"I-is it bad?"

He put down her shirt and closed his eyes. A deep breath in, then out.

"Let's get you cleaned up."

He stood carefully, not taking his eye off her, and walked into the hallway. When he went past the bathroom she blinked in confusion. They were in his room. It remained unchanged from when she had been in here last.

He moved towards a room in the back and flicked on the light. Turning her head and spotting herself, pale in his hand in the mirror, she realized she was bleeding. A crescent moon rested on her belly, where his nail had dug in from when he caught her. She heard the warm tap being turned on.

"I need you to lift up your shirt." He asked quietly.

She complied, bunching it up on her chest. She kicked her pants off, and laid in his hand. He carefully took soap and rubbed it over her belly. She bit her lip, as finger shaped bruises were forming.

He then cut a very small corner of a bandage, and wrapped it carefully around her dried middle. When he finished, he ripped of a tiny piece of medical tape, and taped the end down.

He was unsure of what to do now. So like before, she made the first move.

"I'm hungry."

Her stomach took its cue and growled.

He sent her a reluctantly amused look.

And that's the story of how she was sitting on a paper towel on the counter in her underwear while Kakashi cooked dinner. At one in the morning.

"Thanks for cleaning it."

He hummed.

Another awkward silence fell across them and Haruhi bit her lips and started fiddling with her hair.

What could she say?

Kakashi sighed and glanced at her from behind his shoulder.

"I apologize. I shouldn't have grabbed you so hard."

"No. I should have been more careful. And besides, if you hadn't I would have gotten hurt way worse." She turned down, tracing the shadow of her foot. Seeing Naruto must have triggered flashbacks. She was right there and even felt the tension, saw the warning signs.

A beeping on the stove shook them out of whatever daze they were in, and he turned his attention back to the stove. A few motions later and he brought back a plate of steaming food along with leftover chicken. She took a piece of cheesy rice and nibbled carefully. Kakashi looked at her contemplatively.

"...I guess that's true."

Haruhi was confused for a few seconds before she realized he was talking about catching her.

She nodded and took another bite.

They ate peacefully after that. Her occasionally humming to fill the peaceful silence. Despite being only in her underwear and t-shirt, she wasn't cold. The room seemed to be filled with heat from the stove.

"Hey... Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"Were not really getting up at five, right?"

He started shaking again. Spooked she sat up.

"Kakashi?"

Laughter, deep and open, unlike the one from before, filled the room to bursting. He tossed his head back, mouth clearly open under the mask.

She started to laugh too.

He couldn't respond, and shook his head. Things cleared up after that. They joked quietly and she even punched his hand a few times. A sort of timeless haze settled over the kitchen, a dim warm light, burning gently from the stove, and casting them both in a glow. Eventually she had laughed so hard, it aggravated her stomach.

Her eyes were drooping and he offered a ride on his hand.

She cast him a cautious look. She walked over. His fingers didn't twitch this time, relaxed.

He cleaned up and carefully laid her on the shelf. Before turning away he said something that startled her.

"No."

She sent him a look.

"We will not be there at 5AM."

She giggled out a goodnight and headed to her bed.

She went to sleep with a smile on her face.

So did he-even if you couldn't see it with his mask on.


	9. The Fun Starts Now!

_In which anticipation builds and Haruhi gets a free show._

* * *

Damn birds, always chirping.

She sat up clumsily in her bed, brushing off scraps of fabric used for blankets. From here she could make out her tables, chairs, and dressers, plus a few books. To the right blocked slightly by the door was the floor and living room far off into the distance. Oh, she was not looking forward to climbing down that.

"Ouch!" Picking herself up, she twisted too hard.

Taking a second and leaning against a cookbook, she waited for the sharp sting to fade into a dull throb. She was still only in her underwear. Walking rigidly over to the dresser(wedged between two hardcovers) She opened it slowly and pulled out a pair of very baggy, short, beige sweatpants. If they were going where she thought they were shoes were probably a good idea. All they had really were mismatched pairs though. Taking some of the scraps, she wrapped them tightly up to the calves of each leg, and put the knee length sweatpants things on. She was sure those scraps were made out of ninja cloth, and would serve as pretty good glorified sock-shoes. Taking out a baby blue shirt She put it on her head and shimmied into it.

Yawning, she stepped lightly over to the edge and looked over. The living room had that quiet energized morning vibe going on, the type when you're well rested and ready to do jumping jacks or something. Truly, great things would happen today.

And, she thought, looking down at the giant red books and the carpet floor at least three times her height, it would be even greater if she wasn't back to square one. She would need to find another way down, the easiest path. Looking at the books, she realized if she pushed gently she could make a staircase.

She was in the process of easing a paper back from the shelf when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

Turning around she came face to face with Kakashi.

At this point it was a given and she wasn't surprised anymore.

"We'd better get going. I'll let you wash up and eat quickly first." He carefully laid his palm flat. She had no other choice and because Kakashi was better, she rolled on. Breathing shallowly, she clutched a finger as he slowly brought her to the bathroom. Fully expecting him to leave, she was slightly startled when he coughed awkwardly.

"I need to check it." He blushed slightly, but conveyed the necessity of it with his gaze. She nodded shakily, and took off the baggy pants and slid off her shirt, his eyes sliding with the movement. He gulped.

He cupped one hand around her back, so she could rest on it. The other poked tenderly at her exposed stomach and lower chest.

"Nothing's broken." He said quietly, blush having since evaporated. She finished her business, brushing her teeth the best she could and washing up with occasional assistance from Kakashi when it became too much. They finished up and he carried her to the kitchen, where she worked on that clementine.

"As you know, I'm testing the three genin from yesterday to see if they are capable of becoming genin under me."

She chewed from her perch from on top of the apple.

"You won't be staying with me."

She stopped chewing at this, and almost choked. Was she supposed to stay home then? Reading her confusion he clarified;

"It's too dangerous, and I wouldn't forgive myself if you got hurt even more. You'll stay back with Pakkun."

Sounds legit. She gave him a thumbs up.

He let her finish up and helped her stand with with his index finger. Instead of being put in his pocket like before, she was carried in his hand.

"You'll be with Pakkun instead of me."

Oh.

When they finally left, it seemed to be about nine in the morning. Most of the early birds had been replaced, sitting and flying among the many trees that speckled Konoha. The roads far from the center of the village weren't gravel, but dirt packed. An energy tinged the air. It swept through the trees and blew her hair softly over her shoulders like a cloud.

They didn't meet anyone on their way, it still being relatively early in all. Besides, most of the people were heading towards the heart of the village, not away from it.

The trees became thicker, and birds and other animals replaced the sounds of people. They were still in the village, but deeper into their training grounds. One of the animals happened to be a black cat with orange eyes. It licked it's paw a few feet in front of their stopped forms, before bounding up a tree. Almost immediately, Kakashi turned and headed down what looked to be a deer trail that was now mostly used by people. Foliage ghosted over his pant leg.

"It's quite beautiful." Kakashi said, looking around then down at her.

She wanted to agree, but found her breath taken away. She looked over her shoulder at him then turned back. The trees were dozens of feet high, wildflowers bloomed in every spot of clearing they could find-even on the side of the path a bit. Briar's were a rich red brown and winded up the trees, and a faint trickling led to a tiny waterfall with stones gleaming in the morning sun.

They walked up to one of the larger stones, big and flat enough for Kakashi to squat down. The waterfall, maybe up to his waist, was right in front of him. He gently lowered her on another moss covered stone to his left and slightly behind him. She didn't mind. The view was great.

He reached up and in a jerky movement, bit his thumb. She flinched slightly at the movement. He continued to paint a circle and some of the unreadable symbols. She craned her neck in vain, as she couldn't read them. Muttering under his breath, there was a poof, not unlike when she had arrived here. The moving water swept it away and suddenly Pakkun was there!

"Yo." He greeted. Kakashi rubbed his head and explained what would happen. She listened in. Apparently, she and Pakkun would watch the test from the sidelines. He would use his ninja dog skill or something to observe undetected by everyone expect Kakashi, who would be directing the test. They got up again and walked to the clay packed riverbank. Some of the fresh water droplets got in her hair.

When they were on the path again, Kakashi placed her on Pakkuns head. They saluted to each other and split. Pakkun occasionally filled the time with small talk. They had ventured from the openness of the trail to one in the undergrowth. Judging from the paw marks, fur on the briars and pellets under the roots, she and Pakkun were traveling on a bunny trail! How cool!

The thorny red branches and green plants formed a canopy over them. It was dusky at some points but sudden breaks in the canopy, where maybe a tree or a rock broke through, left a halo of light. Like tunnels!

Some of the larger trees had roots sticking up and forming above ground caves. She could have sworn she saw a family of rabbits under one. All the while they were completely silent.

He slowed down suddenly, mindful if her sides.

"Shhh." He whispered. She tapped to signify she heard. The crept up, and stopped on the edge of the biggest clearing yet.

There they were.

Those three kids would become legends, neo-sannin if you please.

Save the world in all.

Right now Naruto was snoring loudly, Sakura, who was sitting next to Naruto, kept blushing and looking up at Sasuke, and Sasuke had a constipated look on his face. God help them. At this point the sun was much higher in the sky, only a few hours till noon. The sun wasn't so much relaxing now as it was serious. Unhindered by clouds, it beamed down on the clearing.

"Hello everyone. Ready for your first day?" Kakashi said casually, having popped up out of nowhere. His hooded expression was back.

"HEY YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura jumped up screaming in unison.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way" He pointed and eye smiled.

"Liar!" Sakura said this time.

"Well how about I had a tiny woman with me and she needed to finish breakfast. " They looked on like he had sprouted an extra head. She giggled.

Instead of being offended, it somehow made her happy. Lucking, Kakashi had chosen that exact moment to start the explanation.

"Well," He cleared his throat "Lets get started."He walked over to one of three tree stumps and put his hand down on an alarm clock.

"Here we go. It's set for noon. You're assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me." He jingled them in emphasis. "That's all there is to it."

"If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch."

That got a verbal reaction. All of theme developed tortured expressions. So that was why he told them to go without lunch.

" You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you." He pointed to the posts.

"Wait a minute, there's three of us. How comes there's only two bells?" Sakura asked sharply.

"Hm well that way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy." He swung the bells forward.

"Then again, all three of you could flunk out too." No mercy.

"You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells." He curled them into his fist.

"Those weapons are too dangerous!" Sakura exclaimed, arms spread. Naruto laughed.

"Especially since you couldn't dodge that eraser."

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them. When I say start you can begin."

Naruto had other ideas. From what she could see with the leaf blocking her view, he screamed and charged, kunai out.

In a whirl to fast for her or anyone to see, Kakashi grabbed Naruto's kunai arm, turn him and pointed it at the back of his neck. Naruto struggled fruitlessly to escape the iron hold.

"Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet." He stated, annoyed. Sakura and Sasuke took a step back. Her heart was in her throat. She knew Kakashi was powerful. Matter of fact, he had one of the highest kill counts in the entire series. But she had never seen him in action before.

He let Naruto go.

"But, you came at me with the full intention of destroying so...how can I say this? "I'm actually starting to like you guys." Well good. They'd be together for awhile.

"Start!"

The three jumped up and into the trees. The fun starts now!

* * *

 **This story is picking up steam! Tell me your suggestions, what you liked and disliked, and the vibe you're getting.**


	10. The Bell Test

_In which Haruhi does things she shouldn't and children are traumatized._

* * *

They were still. Like the calm before the storm.

She and Pakkun hadn't moved much from under their bush. Yes it was theirs now. Kakashi was standing in the clearing, hands in his pockets and looking back and forth measuredly. At one point he had glanced at them and winked.

The three genin seemed to be hiding for now. With a burst of Chakra, they had jumped off into the trees and were hiding out of sight but within range.

Suddenly, like some war statue, Naruto was standing in the middle of the clearing with his arms crossed, hard to miss with his orange jumpsuit.

She felt the collective sweat-drop. The leaves stopped rustling in a collective 'whut?' moment.

A piece of work for sure.

Pakkun snorted.

"You and me, right now, fair and square, lets go!" She was cringing so hard. She had to force herself to relax because she was hurting her sides. Massive second hand embarrassment. She heard Sasuke scoff from somewhere above her, and while she would gnash her teeth at his arrogant nature, she couldn't help but side with him on this one.

Kakashi tilted his head and squinted in confusion, face a perfect 'wtf' expression.

"You know, compare to the others you're a little bit... weird." He straightened his neck.

"Oh yeah, the only weird thing here is your haircut!" She giggled slightly. Kakashi shot her an annoyed glance.

Screaming, Naruto charged Kakashi.

Tuffs of dust were kicked up as he charged towards a nonchalant Kakashi. Pakkun leaned forward and she swatted a leaf out of her face.

Kakashi reached into his weapons pocket.

The move was intimidating enough for Naruto to stop dead in his tracks and jump back, watching Kakashi like an alert puppy.

"Shinobi battle techniques part one. Taijutsu, the physical part."

"Huh!" He swiftly pulled out of his weapons pouch...

...an orange book. With a scantily clad woman being chased by some horny drooling dude.

"What the!" Naruto let out, not expecting that. She was struggling. She plucked a leaf and squashed her face in it, desperately trying not to laugh. Kakashi seemed to brighten at her struggles, and flipped a few pages while Naruto sputtered on.

"What are you waiting for, make your move." He called, flipping another page.

"but.. I mean, why are you reading that book!"

"Why? To find out what happens in the story of course!" He exclaimed in his passive, laid back way. "Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks, it doesn't really matter if I'm reading, or, whatever."

"I'm going to crush you!" Naruto screamed, charging.

He let loose a series of punches and kicks that rustled the nearby tall grass. Without looking up from his book, Kakashi stopped and dodged every single one with his hand.

Haruhi felt her eyes widen at the sequence.

"Now you're mine! Huh?" Naruto blinked with confusion when Kakashi was suddenly gone.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time." He appeared right behind Naruto's extended form, hands shaped into a sign.

Oh, please no. Don't.

She heard Sakura gasp a couple bushes away.

"Naruto! Get out of there quick! He's going to destroy you!" She shouted, peeking out through the bushes. It was a good thing Sakura cared, she mused, shifting back on Pakkun's head. Said dog was watching with anticipation.

"To late," Kakashi almost sang.

"Leaf village secret finger jutsu! A tHOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!" He jabbed his joined fingers right into Naruto's butt. The kid screamed and went sailing over the treetops.

She was suffering from second hand embarrassment so hard. She cupped her hands in her face and blew out a big puff of air. She felt the judgement rolling of Sakura and Sasuke in waves. She couldn't even call them out cause really, what the hell was that?

A splash was heard and Kakashi turned his back to them and watched Naruto crash land in the lake like a shuttle falling from space.

"Okay. Where was I." He pondered sounding not at all like he had just violated his potential student. He was flipping the page when two shuriken burst out of the water and whirled towards Kakashi, heading straight towards his head!

Accurate as heat seeking missiles they approached their target. Not looking up from his book, Kakashi stuck up his index and middle fingers and caught the two like horseshoes.

Wow. He was forgiven. She was still going to rib him later.

Naruto crawled out after his weapons, sopping wet.

"What are you doing now? You know you wont get lunch unless you get a bell by noon." Kakashi said, exasperated. She was captivated. Leaning forward through the blue green leaves, she stood on top of the blue ninja cloth wrapped around Pakkuns head and pulled on some twig branches for support. Her hair shifted over her shoulders.

"...You look pretty wobbly for somebody who's going to surpass the Hokage." He said skeptically. She missed some dialogue then.

"Pakkun," she hissed "Is there anyway we can get closer?"

"No. Not with the other two hidden."

She grunted in annoyance.

Naruto failed around like a suffocating fish, shouting about being hungry. A little too close for comfort, she heard two other bellies rumble. Pakkun sensed this and slowly backed away into the undergrowth.

"Where are we going?" She whispered as they ducked under a protruding tree root. Thick bushes with purple-green leaves and saplings that shot up like springs, leaving Pakkun to skillfully weave around them.

"Somewhere safer. Those kids were too close. Not that I was worried amateurs like them could catch us."

Then they heard a shout that rustled the leaves and scared the remaining birds away.

"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Fuck! She was missing it!

Pakkun took a turn along a dip in the grass and skimmed a pile of boulders. From this standpoint, they were far away from the two hiding, but could still see the action. What looked like a cloud of Naruto clones flew through the air towards Kakashi. Of course Kakashi still looked dead inside.

"That's very impressive." Pakkun offered. "A dead-last mastering a B rank jutsu isn't much of a dead-last at all." She could only nod in agreement. People really weren't that clear cut.

"Huh!"

Naruto had jumped Kakashi from behind! She knew how this went, but she still couldn't help the worried gasp that escaped her. Pakkun leaned forward, almost sending her toppling onto the sun baked rocks. Battle cries were heard as Kakashi freaked out. The other two were probably stunned.

At the last possible second Kakashi switched himself out for another clone and Naruto ended up whamming himself in the face with his knee. She winced.

Kakashi stood off to the side and shot a wink back at them. She waved and gave him a thumbs up.

The Naruto's were beating each other up now, pissed one had gotten nailed in the kisser and the others rustled in the fall.

Eventually all of them had dispersed and the real Naruto was left standing alone and contemplating life. Kakashi had disappeared.

'Ah kid,' she wanted to say to Naruto, 'that's rough buddy.'

He suddenly jerked forward, having spotted something on the ground she couldn't see. Reaching out, his efforts were thwarted when a rope snapped around his ankle and slingshotted him upwards. Kakashi emerged from the tree line and picked up a single glimmering bell. Wow. He mockingly tossed it up and down, and had a few selective words with Naruto, who was seething in rage.

In a distantly patronizing tone, he continued to lecture Naruto. He turned his back towards the tree line.

Sharp metal burst from the coverage and streaked towards Kakashi. For one terrible moment, it looked like he would be turned into Swiss cheese. They made contact, and a series of solid thunks could be heard and Kakashi poofed and turned into a log.

Sighing in relief, she fell back against Pakkuns head. Faintly, she heard a rustling where Sasuke sprinted away on the treetops.

"So that's where he is."

!

Kakashi was crouched on a pile of rocks behind them with an absolutely sinister expression. She done just about tinkled herself.

"So, you were worried about me?" He teased, expression mellowing out slightly as he glanced away from Sasuke and at her. She froze, then grinned.

"Not for a second."

He looked on surprised and maybe a bit put out.

"I know you can handle yourself."

He paused, then blushed slightly. Pulling out something from his own weapons pouch, he mumbled, and moving so fast her hair blew over her shoulders.

They were silent for a bit. She didn't know how to explain it, but she knew Sakura chased after her crush. It was her and Pakkun now.

"You know," he began" I've never seen Kakashi lose his cool like that." Pakkun remarked thoughtfully. "I'll have to tell the others!" She assumed he meant the other dog summons. And that was cool. But what did he mean by lose his cool?

"Whoa!" She was jolted out of her thoughts when Pakkun picked his way down the rocks.

"You don't want to miss it, do you?"

He continued to pick his way down the sun baking rocks. She hoped he was careful, snakes and other reptiles normally like resting on top of rocks like this. A scream rang through the forest. It had to be Sakura's. Kakashi got her then.

She bit her tongue. She couldn't lecture Kakashi as he wasn't here at the moment, and this was a test for their future. If he went easy on them they didn't deserve to pass.

But then again, this who child soldier thing rubbed her the wrong way.

They stopped on the edge of a smaller clearing just in time to see Sakura faint and Kakashi flip another page from his perch in the tree.

"Kakashi!" She shouted, hands on her hips. Sputtering, he almost dropped the book and fell off the tree. Of course he didn't land on the ground, he pulled some jutsu out of his ass and vanished. Probably to teach Sasuke a lesson. Carefully as she could, she slid off Pakkun, who helpfully lowered his head to the ground.

She paused.

Her intuition was telling her not to. She didn't know when Sakura would wake up, or if she would accidentally hit her. And Haruhi didn't really want to be seen. If she was seen, she would be forced to talk, and if she was forced to talk, they would become friends and it would be that much worse when she leaves. And there was the fact Kakashi told her to stay hidden…

She thought of Sakura's terrified scream and rolled her shoulders, jaw clenching in anger.

If Kakashi had wanted her to stay put, he shouldn't have been a dick.

She jogged over to the KO'd Sakura and lifted her eyelid. Rolled back.

"Haruhi!" Pakkun growled.

Startled she swung around-his maw was inches away from her!

Petrified, she couldn't move as his teeth clamped around her shirt. He broke the cover of bushes just as someone landed in the small clearing.

She exhaled a shaky breath and her fingers spasmed against her thighs as she felt Pakkuns sharp teeth scrap her back and his heavy hot breath dampening her hair.

They leaned forward to see who it was.

The figure grinded to a halt, kicking up dust. Swiftly, they crouched next to Sakura's side and checked her like Haruhi did. Feeling her hummingbird heart fluttering in her wrist, they exhaled a sigh of relief and put Sakura's hand down. As an afterthought, they took Sakura's shoulders and shifted her into a more comfortable position.

"S-sasuke?" Sakura whimpered faintly.

Sasuke shot up, and jumped into the trees before she could awaken further.

Haruhi shook her head, eyes wide in suprise. The ice-cube caring about someone? She narrowed her eyes at the spot where Sasuke disappeared into the trees. As Haruhi recalled, he was an arrogant little turd with a massive chip on his shoulder and no respect for anyone at this point. Why would he check on Sakura?

She was lowered to the moss covered ground. Which was good; she had bad past experiences with dogs. He planted his chin for her to climb on, and she did. With difficulty. She bunched her trembling hands in the fabric and had to use a nearby rock as a step stool, the memory of Pakkuns teeth against her back still fresh. His canine was as big as her fist.

"Kakashi was right."

"Hm?" She continued humming, mostly to calm herself. The stress and confusion was getting to her.

"You do like humming."

She had nothing to say to that, so she didn't respond. She did stop humming though. A bush rustled with what she assumed was another rabbit, the leaves shaking slightly. Haruhi smiled, thinking back to the rabbit trails she and Pakkun had been in earlier. Pakkun sprinted on the ground before tensing.

"What is it?" Haruhi whispered. Pakkun didn't answer, his head only tilted up and his nose twitched as he sniffed. His narrowed sharp black eyes scanned the bushes

"Hang on."

"Hang on-AH!"

She clutched the head band, digging her feet behind his ears. Her hair streamed behind her and her lips rippled with the g force, stealing her breath away. He jumped a few more times, each one a lot like a less fun roller coaster, before he bounded carefully to the forest ground again.

She gathered herself.

"Pakkun!" She hissed.

"Shh." He whispered back.

In front of them was Sasuke. And behind him leaning on a tree was Kakashi. Still reading his porn.

"...Say that after you get one of these bells, Sasuke." He taunted.

Sasuke was staring blankly at the treeline. They shifted uncomfortably, it seemed like he was looking right at them. He shifted around and a super tense standoff took place. She could almost hear the background music as they sized each other up, like two wolves or something. Or a mexican standoff.

"Ha!" Sasuke flung sharp metal like rain.

"There's no point using normal attacks!" Kakashi said leaping to the side.

Sasuke smirked.

"Hn!"

A kunai soared through the air and sliced through a suspended rope. A trap!

Kakashi did a one handed back-flip, barely dodging a storm of weaponry, which embedded itself up to the hilt with solid thunks in a tree trunk.

He slid along the ground.

"Huh!"

Sasuke appeared so fast behind Kakashi he was a blur to her senses. With his back towards Sasuke he was open to attack.

"Thwack!"

Kakashi barely raised his forearms in time to stop the spinning helicopter kick. The sound of shoes on forearms made her cringe.

Kakashi gripped his foot. Sasuke was now stuck. Twisting his torso even further, Sasuke formed a fist and swung.

Catching it like a baseball, Kakashi actually slid backwards. Rotating in the air, Sasuke took his free foot and arch it blindingly fast towards Kakashi's head, who, again, barely ducked in time. Upside down he was inches away from the unguarded bells on Kakashi's hip. With his free hand he reached.

"Ting."

With a enormous movement Kakashi threw Sasuke off just as the tip of his finger flicked the bells.

Both slid across the clearing away from each other, Kakashi now taking Sasuke seriously. Sasuke's smirk slid into a scowl.

In the distance, she heard someone shouting. The two paid no attention to it.

"Well, you are different from the other two, I'll grant you that." Said Kakashi.

"Hn." Jesus, was this kid a caveman? His vocabulary was limited to three noises. It was grating on her nerves. He rapidly flicked through a series of hand-signs, air whistling around his arms. He reared back, hair standing on end and shorts whirling around him. He took a deep breath.

Kakashi looked even more rattled than when Sasuke almost got the bell. His disbelief was tangible. He leaned forward to watch and his arms spread back, prepared to jump.

"HISSS."

HOLY HELL, SASUKE WAS BREATHING FIRE! GET HER THE HELL OUTTA HERE!

It formed a mass in the center of the thankfully rock clearing, cracking the stone. It dissipated, leaving a smoldering crater and no Kakashi.

"Hn?" Sasuke put his arm down and looked around in shock.

"Where?" A voice taunted.

Crack! A gloved clad hand reached through the hard packed dirt and grabbed Sasuke's ankle.

"Aha!?"

"I'm where you least expect me."

With a short scream, Kakashi yanked his ankle and pulled him straight down into the dirt!

The bells tingled.

Kakashi crouched in front of Sasuke, who was now buried up to the neck.

"Right under your feet. Earth style, headhunter jutsu. " He said patronizingly, like a schoolteacher who hated you.

"Can't move, huh? That was ninjutsu, the third shinobi battle skill. You have talent, and you were right, you are 'different' from the the others. But different isn't always better."

Standing up from his crouch, he puts one hand in his pocket and the other held up the book. He starts walking away.

"They say the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down."

She sat there stunned. Kakashi went all BAMF on this ostrich kid. She could still see him squirming in the dirt, fruitlessly trying to wrench himself free. Pebbles fell around his neck whenever there was an opening. She felt something block her sun.

"What's your game, Kakashi?"

"Hm?" He replied, flicking a page.

"It's not just about skill. What do you want from these three kids?"

At this, he glanced from the book to her, and gave her an appraising look.

"You're very sharp, Haruhi."

"So?"

Eye smiling he said:

"You'll find out."

...And he was gone. Great. Pakkun made a move to leave.

"Wait!" She hissed. He paused.

She didn't like Sasuke by any means, but she was frustrated at his and the others lack of maybe she was also annoyed at Kakashi.

Licking her lips, she turned her head towards Sasuke. Making sure they were covered by shadows and leaves she leaned forward.

"Sasuke!" She raised her voice.

Said boy stopped struggling and whipped his head around. Him being a human and not an owl, he wasn't able to turn his head all the way.

"You have two others, use them!"

"Who's there?" He demanded.

Pakkun, sensing something she didn't, pulled back and silently left the edge. Something rustled what sounded like 20 feet away. They broke into the clearing.

"Huh?!"

"S-sakura? It's you?"

"AH! Sasuke's just a head without a body and he's talking!" She fell onto her back in a dead faint.

"Hey!?" They faintly heard Sasuke say before they walked out of range. She knew Sasuke would get himself out and wake Sakura up, then have a bit of an heart to heart. Haruhi's lip curled condescendingly as she thought of how easily Sakura fainted at the sight of Sasuke. But to be fair, Kakashi did put her under a traumatizing Genjutsu, so she would let it slide.

But now it was time to see what sunshine boy was up too.

Pakkun panted, expertly running through the bunny trails. It reminded her of the Easter bunnies tunnels in Rise of the Guardians.

"Huff huff huff" Pakkun was going as fast as he could with her on board, but it wasn't enough.

"Ringgggg!"

Pakkun slowed to a trot.

"We were too late." In the distance through a break in the trees she saw the pile of rocks from before. They make it to the beginning of the clearing and made their way around, using the brownish crabgrass as camouflage. They could hear three hungry bellies in unison. Naruto was tied to the middle wooden trunk, evidently having tried to take one of the two boxed lunches from before. Sasuke and Sakura were on either side in various sitting positions. In front of the three stood Kakashi, with a mocking smile on his face.

"Uh oh, stomach's growling, huh? That's too bad. Oh! By the way, about this exercise, I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy."

Naruto shrieked in delight.

Sakura said "What? I passed? All I did was faint and fall over. Do you get points for that" At least she knows how terrible she did.

"Hn." a small smirk from Sasuke.

"Oh boy! all three of us!" Naruto shouted in glee.

She felt a sinking in her stomach when his smile became sickeningly sweet.

"Yes all three of you are being dropped from the program. Permanently!"

My God.

Sakura looked like she was slapped with a trout.

Sasuke 'hn' in shock.

And Naruto screamed in opened mouth horror.

"Drop us from the program! that means we can never become ninja! You said if we couldn't take the bells we would be sent back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and kick us out wHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!"

"Because you don't think like ninja, you think like little kids. Like brats." That was the last straw.

Sasuke lunged forward, a move that pushed the leaves all the way from they were hiding.

Hands on his hips, Kakashi's eye followed Sasuke.

"Twck!"

"You think it's all about you." Kakashi said spitefully from his position half kneeling on Sasuke's back and stepping on his head.

"Let go of Sasuke! You can't step on him like he's some sort of bug!" Sakura screamed, mindlessly defending her crush. Oh, she was not liking this. Haruhi shrank back. This charged atmosphere was messing with her good vibes.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja! You think It's a game, huh! Why do you think we put you on squads, did you consider that question for one moment?!" His voice was merciless and made everyone in the vicinity feel like an idiot.

"Uh, I-I don't know what you mean!?"

"I mean," He said dangerously, "You never realized what this exercise was all about. Not even close."

"What it's about?"

"Yes. That's what determines whether you pass or fail."

"That's, I mean, that's what I wanted to ask you about from the beginning." Sakura almost whimpered.

"Tch. Use your head. Three people on a squad. Why. do. You. Think, we would do that?"

Naruto screamed wordlessly in frustration.

"Ah! How are we supposed to know why you picked three people! We didn't make the rules!"

"…"

"It's so basic; TEAMWORK."

"..."

"Just working together, is that what you mean?" Sakura questioned.

"That's what I mean. It's too late now, But if all three of you had come at me you might, have been able to take them. Well, anyway, it's over."

"Ting." The bells taunted.

Sakura looked like she was thinking.

"You set it up with three people but only two bells. If we worked together and got the bells only two of us could keep them and that would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up!" Sakura, when not being blinded by her crush or insecurities, was actually smart.

"Exactly. I purposely pitted you against each other." He sounded like he was giving her a mocking pat on the head. "I wanted to see if you could overcome that and _put the squad ahead of yourselves._ " He emphasized.

"A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. But you, it never even crossed your mind." Kakashi sneered.

"Sakura!"

She leaned back and gasped.

"You obsessed over Sasuke, who was gone while Naruto was right in front of you-and you wouldn't lift a finger to help him."

"Naruto! You do everything on your own. Everything!"

"And you, Sasuke. You thought the others were so far beneath you they were worthless. Arrogance. " Kakashi sneered. Hate gleamed in his eye, and for a second Haruhi was caught off guard. She didn't like Sasuke at all, but he hadn't done anything to warrant that. Yet.

She realized what she saw was self hatred. Sasuke was too much like Kakashi in his youth.

He looked up from Sasuke with scorn.

"Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course you need individual skills but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad this can lead to failure and death!"

He reached into his weapons pouch.

"For example..."

"Sakura!" Kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies!" He held his kunai to Sasuke's throat.

Both of them panicked. Said boy looked rapidly back and forth. He pulled his knife away and Sasuke exhaled in relief.

Kakashi whirled the weapon around his finger.

"The enemy takes a hostage and you've got an impossible choice." He sighs.

"And someone ends up dead. "

He put it back in the pouch and finally stood up from Sasuke. He walked away and towards a large polished stone with inscriptions in it.

"On every mission your life is on the line."

Sasuke stayed down.

"Did you look at the Stone? The names engraved on it?" He stopped in front of it. His back was turned to them and his hands were curled into loose fists at his side. She shifted in realization. This rock was a memorial, she remembered now. Kakashi had people he cared about on that rock. She felt her eyes well up, even as she aggressively fought it down. This wasn't about her.

"They are all ninja, who are honored as heroes in our village."

"That's it that's it, that's it! I'll be a hero too" Naruto screeched. Why the hell did he sound so happy? Haruhi's brow furrowed.

"They are a... special kind of hero." Kakashi looked back, face blank.

"Huh? What kind of heroes are they? Come on!" He said, happy as can be. Sasuke used the moment to get up and walk back over, cool as a cucumber.

"…"

"They are all K.I.A"

Jesus Christ. Or did he exist here?

"Oh! That sounds real cool." Fuck it she was gonna put his name on the rock. He was embarrassing himself and she was blushing from second hand embarrassment so hard she was just about as red as the sharingan.

"It means killed in action, they all died." Sakura said sadly.

He froze, smile waning on his face. Dumbass. Was Naruto really this dumb?

"This is a memorial stone, the names of my closest friends are engraved here." She curled a fist to her chest and hair fell over her shoulder to cover her face. Feel trip she guessed.

He took a breathe that raised and lowered his shoulders. He looked over one.

"All right, I'm going to give you one more chance." At the action, her heart sped up. That was a good thing for him to do, and she hoped the three-no matter how undeserving- would capitalize on it.

"But I'm going to make it much harder on you. You'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build up strength. But; Naruto doesn't get any." Said boy grimaced. She thought it was a fair trade off though. "It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself."

His face took on shadows again.

"And if anyone tries to feed him, that person will immediately fail. I make the rules, you follow them. Got it?"

Kakashi handed out the lunches to Sasuke and Sakura, while Naruto looked on hungrily. Making up some excuse Kakashi left them to it. She shifted again, releasing the leaf and taking a deep breath to calm herself.

She and Pakkun were positioned on a side of a tree trunk, in a dip in its side. She was perched on top of his head. A patch of pretty yellow buttercups grew to their left.

"So you figured it out."

Blinking she looked up.

Kakashi's face was inches away from her. Again. Did personal space mean nothing to him?

It appeared obvious she had been crying. Her upturned nose was a cherry red, and her normally red tinted cheeks (mild rosacea from her father) were maroon to match. Strands of her curly black hair clung to her cheekbones where it was damp.

Gently, he lifted a finger and brushed the hair out of her face and traced it to her shoulders with his index. It tingled slightly. He didn't break the gaze.

"I heard you try and help Sasuke. You figured out they needed to work together."

She started, then blushed harder. He saw that?

Of course he did.

She grinned, wiping some of the tear tracks off her face.

"Well Kakashi, when I saw just how good you were I just knew they could never do it alone."

He blinked, scratching his now blushing cheek and looked away briefly before his eye returned to her. He just couldn't look away for long.

"Too bad you're not a ninja. You figured it out quicker than of the other three."

"Well, I am a fair bit older."

Silence fell again, and she tried to decipher what Kakashi was feeling. Surely he was rattled by his revelation to the kids about the deaths of his past loved ones?

"Are you okay?" The both said.

"Oh sorry-"

"Ah, you first-"

She giggled and covered the side of her face and he chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head and eye smiling clumsily. They had asked the question at the same time.

"Were you crying because of what I said earlier"

"I-it's not your fault. I just-"

"It's fine. I didn't know you felt like that."

She bit the inside of her lip, embarrassed.

"Here."

He reached over her; she could feel the heat from his arm as he passed. Stooping slightly, he plucked a single butter cup with expert precision. With his other hand, he cupped her hands and delicately placed the solidarity flower in her cupped palms. It was a bright sunshine yellow with a orange center. Five fat, rounded, leaves were shaped upwards into a bowl.

"Can't have you upset, now." She was speechless.

She closed her slightly parted lips and smiled lopsidedly.

"Thank you." She said gratefully.

"O-oh! It was nothing!"

She laughed into her shoulder, a wave of hair covering her face. She noticed something through the leaves. Turning back to Kakashi she shifted the flower into one hand and used the other to gently nudged the fingertips that were still resting on her lap.

"Go get 'em."

He eye-smiled warmly down at her, managing to keep his gaze unhindered. Standing to his full height, he turned and like an angered god, thundered through the leaves to the three genin, who had started feeding Naruto.

Smiling, she sat back down and lightly pressed the flower to her face.

"What am I? Chopped liver?!" Pakkun exclaimed angrily, having been forgotten in their exchange.

"Oh! sorry!"

Smiling sheepishly, they turned back to the situation. Sasuke and Sakura went directly against Kakashi's rules and had fed Naruto.

A whirlwind of Chakra, wind, and dust spread across the clearing, a manifestation of Kakashi's wrath.

"YOU!"

Naruto and Sakura screamed, and Sasuke 'hn' dramatically.

"You broke the rules! I hope you're ready for the punishment!" He slowly formed hand seals, and disappeared while clouds in the background crackled with lighting.

"Any last words?"

Naruto chattered.

"B-but y-y-you s-said-"

Kakashi tilted his head. "Yes?" He demanded.

"You said that there were three of us! That's what you said and that's...why Sakura and..." Surprisingly, Sasuke stepped up to the plate.

"Were all on this squad and were all in it together!" He shouted.

Sakura, inspired by her crush, stood up.

"Yeah that's right!" She said something but a particularity loud rumble blocked the words.

Naruto screamed 'yeah' repeatedly.

"That's your excuse?!" Kakashi demanded angrily.

"..."

"Hn. You pass." Kakashi then smiled, cool as a can of beans.

"Huh?!"

"You. Pass."

"What do you mean?" Sakura looked confused.

"You're the first squad that's ever succeeded. The others did exactly what I said and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception." He paused.

"In the ninja word those who break the rules are scum. That's true. But. Those who abandon their friends...are worse than scum!" Amen.

He looked up to the sky. The clouds cleared.

"Y-ya know," Said a teary eyed Naruto "He's kinda cool."

Haruhi smiled softly, pressing the buttercup to her face.

He really was.

"The exercise is over, everyone passes! Squad seven starts its first mission tomorrow!" He channeled enthusiasm in his passive way. He gave them all a thumbs up.

"Let's go home." That sounded good to everyone in the vicinity, knowingly or not. Sakura and Sasuke followed Kakashi. Pakkun made to do the same but her conscious stopped her.

"Pakkun! Naruto is still there!" She whispered. With practiced ease, she ingored the voice of her common sense screaming at her not to.

"Fine."

They crept around the back, out of sight. Pakkun let her fall to the ground and he grabbed a piece of rope with his teeth.

"The other way." She hissed. Pakkun couldn't see where to pull from his angle.

"H-hey who's there!" Naruto started thrashing, ropes now loose enough to get free. By that time, they were gone.

* * *

They had taken the long way home. Pakkun had decided that, with the now three kids following Kakashi, it was probably a good idea they stayed back. She wondered why she couldn't been seen and when would they see her, if ever? And would it even be a good idea to get to know them in the first place?

But combined with the long trail (to avoid being seen) Her stopping them to look at mushrooms, flowers, or pretty rocks,(they were cool!) and the fact Pakkun couldn't go too fast with her on his head, it was almost dusk when they finally got back. Distracted by the trip, events of the day, and the smell of food seeping onto the porch, she forgot one important detail;

When she asked him if he was okay, he never answered her.

The answer was no, probably, and she shouldn't pry, but…

Wel, she felt obligated to ask, and try to help. He was taking care of her during her stay here after all. It was on right she try to take care of him as well.

Maybe he was distracted by something, and she couldn't blame him for that. But it just seemed unlikely for him to 'forget' to answer. But the drifting thoughts were chased away when they arrived. Kakashi had left the door open slightly and Pakkun nudged it the rest of the way open before closing it behind him. He then unsummoned himself.

She stood in the middle of the hallway. Kakashi seemed to be in a good mood. He had made a dish she didn't recognize, but it included veggies so it was all good. He went to bed afterwards and so did she.

So when she woke up, she was greeted with cricket noises from outside and the sense that, she had to go to the kitchen. She shifted in her matchbox looking bed, and twisted herself over the edge. She had no idea what time it was but judging by the was the silver moonlight gleamed off the table it had to be around midnight. She went through the motions, and ended up in the hallway, slightly calloused feet barely felt the cool wooden floor, and deep breaths were heard as she inhaled the smell of steaming tea from the kitchen mixing with the night air.

She paused. Having a memory as least a little bit better than a goldfish and slightly aching sides to boot, she knew she shouldn't sneak up on Kakashi.

But something told her he was waiting for her.

She walked into the kitchen without hesitation. Besides, he made green tea, which was her favorite. Just as she had thought, he was leaning over the counter, eye following her path. She approached and he stooped down, carefully and reassuringly cupping her in his palm, and then put her on the edge of the fruit bowl. He slowly drew his hand away, as not to startle her.

She resisted the urge to swing her legs and instead crossed them at the ankle, waiting for him to speak. She bowed her head and allowed him to take a slow sip in peace.

"I'm a sensei now." He said, like making sure it was real. He tossed the words around in his mouth like he had never quite heard of them before.

She tilted her head upwards in interest, listening.

"I think... a part of me...knew these three were special. No one had ever passed my test before, and I think to avoid turmoil I focused on that fact and applied it to them."

He lowered his eye to his hands, which were splayed just below her at the base of the bowl. Gathering his thoughts.

"What are you worried about?"

...

"I'll do my best, but I'm not sure I'm what they need."

Kakashi was unsure of himself. And as much as she hated to admit it, it was with good reason. Kakashi had done a mediocre job at best the first time around, ignoring Sakura, dumping Naruto off om Ebisu, and forgetting to teach Sasuke to learn from his mistakes early on. And Kakashi had never worked with kids this young and inexperienced before. Itachi didn't count, an at this age he was already ANBU level. Plus the fact he still wasn't recovered from his previous trauma and the three kids reminded him of his dead teammates definatly didn't help...

"Well, all you can do is your best. Teach them what you have learned from your own mistakes. And remember, you are learning how to be a Sensei, just as they are learning how to be a ninja."

He sighed, shoulders moving like mountains as he considered her words. She looked away as he took another sip of tea before speaking.

"All of these three are very, ah, special cases. A naive civilian girl, traumatized arrogant boy, and a deadlast with big ambitions. They assigned me to that team because of many reasons, the complicated factors surrounding each kid is one of them."

She jumped down onto his upturned palms and placed her hands in the the middle of his, him having taken off the glove.

"Well Kakashi, you don't have to do it alone." He could always ask the other Senseis what to do, like Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai.

He gaped for a second before eye-smiling at her.

"Silly me, I didn't consider."

"Kakashi, are you okay?"

"Yes. Yes I am."

She laughed and jumped off, wandering towards the cup of tea in interest. He called her name, voice serious now.

"Haruhi. I told the children about you."

What! Haruhi was stunned and angry. After yelling at her not to reveal herself and making her feel guilty for it, he goes and spills the beans without even asking her?

"When Naruto caught up, I told them there was a special supplement to our team, and that I would reveal what it was when they were ready."

Why would he do that?

Seeing the betrayed look on her face, Kakashi quickly backpedaled.

"We don't know how long you'll be here. It could be for another day, or for another month. Looking after you and the genin at the same time while trying to keep you a secret isn't realistic.

She reluctantly nodded, unable to find flaw in his argument. Her jaw unclenched. She was still angry though.

"Tomorrow is our first mission. I want you to come along, as it won't be anything dangerous."

"What will it be?"She asked after a moment.

His eye twinkled, regaining it's spark.

"You'll see."

* * *

Pakkun really didn't know what to make of this scent.

He was an expert tracker, hunting down some of the most elusive missing nin in the world, but when it came to figuring out what all this meant, his head hurt. He paused, feeling Haruhi's tiny legs tighten around his neck, and his headband tighten as she pulled.

"What is it?" She whispered.

Pakkun could picture her brow furrowing and her mocha hand reaching up to play with her hair.

He scanned the tree line, searching for the origin of the mysterious scent. He spotted nothing. At first, he didn't notice it, a feat in and of itself due to just how skilled he was. It was similar to Haruhi's and covered by the other scents of the forest his nose had ghosted over it completely.

But...

As he continued to inhale, there was no mistaking it's difference to Haruhi's.

A second later and the source disappeared completely, leaving only minute traces behind. Whoever it was, they hadn't been here for long. Their stay too brief for pakkun to really pick it apart and too little left over to track them down.

"Hang on."

He ignored her squeal as he bounded over a boulder and headed towards the fight.

Kakashi would need to hear about this.

* * *

 **This is my longest one yet! I did it to celebrate 100! And the plot thickens! What is this mysterious scent?**


	11. Baby Days

_In which Haruhi is hurt and team seven babysits._

* * *

She raised a single shaky hand into her hair and started twisting the already curly strand around and around nervously.

It's not like she could help it, though!

They had been over the plan going on seven times now. The routine would be the same-she would hide to the best of her ability until she was given the all clear. Characteristically, Kakashi was arriving two hours late so they had had plenty of time to talk. The sun was up and beaming on them and she almost couldn't stand the heat in the pocket.

Or maybe it was something else making her uncomfortable.

What would the kids think of her?

He tapped her head. Scowling, she swatted his fingers away. She didn't want to know. She would much rather stay hidden, but if that meant having to hide in this sweltering pocket for however long she was here, then she would have no other choice but to reveal herself. Her nose twitched in irritation.

She blinked as a thought crossed her mind.

"Hey, what was that, yesterday?" She asked.

"What was what?" He looked down curiously.

"The dramatic yelling-A THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!" She imitated him.

"W-well, I was just kidding!"

It looked pretty real to me."

Flustered, Kakashi buried his face into his book and didn't look up until they came a little past the deer trails again.

"Okay, you remember the plan?"

"Yeah."

She slipped down to her peek hole and he left the top partially open so she didn't suffocate.

She heard them loudly complaining and breathed shakily. This wasn't shown in canon except right up to the C rank mission. She was going fully into uncharted territory. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. It was incredibly reassuring to have Kakashi there, though.

Even if she was still sour at him.

"OH, I KNOW, WERE GOING TO SAVE A PRINCESS AREN'T WE!? TELL US TELL US! Naruto bellowed in his preteen way.

"Yeah, Sensei!" Sakura shouted.

"Hn."

It seemed in their excitement they forgot to tell Kakashi he was late. She punched him in the chest though, for all the good it did.

"Let's head out. To the mission desk!"

She felt them about face and walk away. The three kids scrambled and ran after Kakashi.

Out of her peek hole, she couldn't really see anywhere but straight, but with the sun behind them, she saw all three shadows turn towards each other, as if agreeing before looking back at Kakashi.

"Um, Kakashi sensei?"

"Hm?"

"What's the thing we need to prove ourselves for? Can't you tell us?" Sakura spoke for them all.

They were talking about her! She reflexively twitched away from the tiny tear before forcing herself back. Kakashi's shoulders hunched as if to calm her.

"Like I said you need to prove you're capable on this mission."

"Capable of what!? Come on!"

Them all crowded Kakashi and she got a good eyeful of Naruto hopping around like his pants were on fire.

He deemed them unworthy of response and they fell into a charged silence. The three, even Sasuke, were anticipating their first mission. She fell back against the back of the pocket, a circle of light landing on her thigh. She felt the corner of the book nudge the pocket inconspicuously twice.

'Are you alright?'

She tapped back twice.

'I'm fine, continue as planned.'

He went back to reading his book. They approached the center of town, and things got a lot busier. It seemed to be some sort of rush hour, as everyone looked like they were in a hurry to be somewhere. Not like they weren't either, though.

Everyone was pretty much dressed all like civilians, including the off mission ninja. You could tell who was a ninja though if you payed attention to how they moved. It also help all of them nodded to Kakashi in passing. The buildings became more crowded the training grounds faded away and the smell of foods wafted into the air. Trees provided spots of shade where people rested before continuing.

She felt the air cool as Kakashi stepped into a building, and the force of each step altered with the floor.

They must have been at the mission room now. She recognized this place as part of the academy as they headed in a different direction than before.

Naruto was positively bouncing in excitement, Sakura was fidgeting from foot to foot, and Sasuke's head was up and looking around.

"Kakashi. Here for team seven's first mission?" Said the Third hokage. She waved as best she could and he sent a brief eye twinkle her way. He was very nice for a militaristic dictator.

"Hello Iruka sensei! We're here for our first mission!" Naruto shouted.

"Good job! I'm Proud of you. All of you!" The three kids were obviously pleased and turned towards Iruka.

Actual cinnamon roll Umino Iruka.

She was blushing.

He was scratching his nose and laughing at Naruto's antics. He said something to the three but she couldn't pick it up-she was too busy admiring his perfection. He was adorable and she needed to protect him-

"Team seven is assigned the D-rank mission of babysitting a official's young daughter." Lord Third cleared his throat.

Well then. She knew as their first mission, while it was a big deal, the mission itself wouldn't be anything extraordinary. The three preteens, however, didn't think that far ahead.

"WHAT!?" Naruto screeched.

Sakura and Sasuke were stunned into silence. She felt Kakashi hold back a laugh. She would have laughed and she probably would later, but she was too busy being stunned by Iruka in general.

The third tossed the scroll to Kakashi who caught it with the hand not holding the book.

"Alright team, let's go!"

And he walked out of the room and into the hallway, the preteens scrambling behind them.

She finally let her giggles loose before asking;

"Why a babysitting mission?"

He paused for a second before sheepishly saying,

"Well... I wanted them to have experience with tiny people..."

"…"

She punched the corner of his book. "I'm not a baby!" She choked out.

"I know I know, but I need to see how they can handle taking care of someone else who can't take care of themselves." kakashi backtracked babbling slightly. He only made it worse.

"...Can't take care of themselves? Is that really what you think of me?" she spoke quietly.

He realized his mistake too late.

"W-what I meant to say was, not someone who was incompetent, but-Haruhi?"

She had sunk back down into her pocket, feeling just as small as she was. He called quietly to her again, as the preteens were catching up. It might have been immature, but she didn't want to respond. So she didn't.

She rubbed above her collarbones, feeling the lump in her throat. That really hurt.

When the kids caught up a few moments later, Kakashi explained the mission. There was a lot of whining on Naruto's part, but they eventually made their way over to a much nicer looking home, even better than Kakashis. She noticed he sounded off when explaining, but she didn't really care right now. She knew she wasn't as reliable as she once was, but being compared to a baby, and by Kakashi no less...

They walked the rest of the way in silence, Naruto pouting, Sasuke brooding, Sakura nervous, and Kakashi distracted. Yikes.

Sakura knocked on the door and they stood back and waited. A well dressed woman stepped out hastily.

"Oh good! You all must be the genin team. She's in her crib right now and instructions are on the kitchen counter and baby food is in the fridge. Now excuse me, i'm late for my meeting. Good-bye!"

And without leaving room for any questions she hurried off down the road and was soon out of sight.

"Okay then!" Kakashi clapped his hands in front of him. The three turned towards him and then slowly walked in the house, Naruto tripping on the steps.

They walked nervously into the house. It had an air of a very busy person, who was organized but sometimes just couldn't. There were coffee stains and the carpet was rumpled. Papers and ink were splayed on a desk in the living room. Hearing a faint crying from the room, the three broke into intense whispered arguments.

"Sakura's a girl, she should go-" Sasuke spoke hastily.

"-Well, Sasuke's the great number one so he should do it-!"Naruto whispered back.

"-Wow, because I'm a girl?!" Sakura screeched indignantly.

"WwwaaaAAAHHHHHH!"

"That's enough!"

The three fell silent and turned their gazes on them.

"You have a mission, all three of you! Go up and figure it out together, or have you learned nothing?"

Cowed, the preteens bowed their heads and slinked upstairs. Sasuke, being the clearest thinker, grabbed the instructions from the table.

Then it was two.

He chuckled, trying to defuse tension.

"A lot of work is needed on them."

She stayed silent, but crept back to the hole. He sighed and she felt the puff of breath roll over her.

"What do you think of them?"

She stayed silent.

…

"They sure do have potential, don't ya think?" He asked her.

"...what do you think they'll think of me?" Haruhi finally said, ignoring Kakashi's forced attempts at conversation.

"Well, It's not possible to think bad of you, so don't worry too much."

They fell quiet, just as Sakura's voice rang out.

"Kakashi sensei! We need your help! We can't get the baby to stop crying!"

She felt him twitch.

"Right now?"

"Yes!"

"I'll meet you up their. Sakura ran back up the stairs, and Kakashi took a deep breath, as if to steel himself. He crossed the carpet and climbed the steps. The wails hadn't stopped, and in fact were progressively getting louder.

They were met with a scene of chaos. Naruto was barely holding on to a struggling baby, Sasuke was pouring over the apparently invalid instructions, and Sakura was looking back and forth between the two, not knowing who to help.

A sigh.

The wails were like sirens now, and her ears were ringing.

"You three! Take the instructions and make the baby formula! Naruto, give the baby to me!"

The three compiled, and handed off the wailing babe to Kakashi and fled downstairs. Up close with the child pressed inches away from her, her tiny eye-hole was blocked by yellow cloth and she had to cover her ears in order not to go deaf.

She felt him rock the baby in jerky unpracticed movements, letting out stresses shushes. It kinda worked, but the baby was still sniffling loudly in a way that threatened more.

Now, that simply wouldn't do.

Haruhi was mad at Kakashi, and was tempted to let him handle the baby by himself, with no help. Payback for telling the kids without her permission and then insulting her, no matter how unintentionally it was.

But she couldn't just leave the poor baby like this. If punishing Kakashi meant others were made uncomfortable as well, she wouldn't do it.

Bracing herself, she let go of her ears. The noise rushed in like water, and she cringed at the pressure. Jumping up she peeked out and came face to face with the baby. Kakashi looked down at the baby, then her desperately.

"I don't-I'm not good with babies."

"Make your motions fluid. Take the stress out of your voice, too." Haruhi said, While she had no kids of her own or little siblings, she did babysit in her teen years for cousins of hers.

He nodded, relieved.

His formerly border-line panicked movements became much smoother, his breathing was controlled in an exercise. It's sniffling faded to wet hiccoughs.

He sighed in relief, and stopped.

"WwaaaaaAAAHHH-"

"Hey! Hi baby! How are you?"

The baby stopped dead, little mouth with one tooth opening and closing in shock. It stared up at her from it's position in Kakashi's arms, with unabashed curiosity. Said man was stone still.

She carefully slid out and crawled onto the babe's chubby stomach. It sucked on one fist and didn't look away.

"That's a good baby. No crying, okay? Can you tell us what's wrong?"

She sniffed the air.

"Well, you don't need to be changed. And you were fed before we got here!"

Indeed, there was an almost empty bottle of baby formula on the nightstand.

She dramatically stretched on the baby belly, making the kid giggle.

"Oh! You miss your mommy, don't you?"

The sniffles picked back up, and Kakashi stiffened.

"Kakashi, move back and forth again" She whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

She cooed, and balanced up Kakashi's forearm to place her palms on the babe's cheek.

"It's fine. She'll be back. But for now, we'll take care of you."

The baby let out a tiny giggle, and a fist the size of her torso flexed around her shoulders. She laughed and took the hand in both of hers and danced around it.

"Kakashi-Sensei! We got the baby formula!"

His back was towards the door so she scaled his jacket face just in time-Sakura walked in front of them.

She led the way downstairs into the kitchen, where the instructions were being poured over by the other two.

"Well, it looks like you three managed after all." He said with a faint note of pride, looking at the newly filled bottle.

He handed the baby to Sakura, who took the bottle from Naruto and fed the baby. Throughout the process, it's eyes trailed back to Kakashi's vest, more specifically, the breast pocket over the heart. She waved.

"Hey! What's that smell?!"

"Ew-!"

"Naruto's changing it-"

"-Urg!"

Naruto was forced to change the diaper and somehow managed. He did live alone though, so he must have picked up on some skills.

The thought made Haruhi sad. How long did Naruto live alone for?

When the official came back a couple of hours later, she thanked them for doing such a good job. The baby was dozing and she waved them off as they headed down the shaded street. They walked in a peaceful silence with the crunch of gravel underneath them.

She felt a double tap.

'Are you ready?'

Was she?

She thought of the way Naruto bounced the baby, trying to calm her. She thought of Sakura, cradling her, and even about Sasuke, who read and re-read the instructions. They started the mission disappointed and out of their comfort zone, but still performed to the best of their abilities. And while Haruhi wasn't a baby, and resisted being called one, she couldn't ignore the perseverance and determination the kids showed today.

Biting her lip, she leaned back and pushed twice.

'Yes.'

"I've decided you all are ready."

Three shocked faces looked back on them.

"Really!? Do you mean that!?"

He nodded.

"Let's head over to the training grounds."

The trees lining the edge of the gravel road became thicker and thicker, and the gravel turned to dirt and then crabgrass. Finally, They came to a stop at the three stumps with her heart racing.

He leaned on one of them, and the preteens sat in a half-circle around him, all looking on in anticipation.

"You can come out now." Kakashi called.

"Huh?!" The three whipped their heads around, looking for someone to pop out of the bushes.

"Hello." She called down from her new perch on Kakashi's shoulder.

The three gazes stopped on her and their reactions were almost comical.

Naruto screamed and fell onto his back, gasping and pointing at her. Sakura brought both her fists to her chest and stared with wide eyes. Sasuke blinked in shock, mouth opening and closing silently.

She gave a strained smile and bowed on Kakashi's shoulder.

"I'm Haruhi, please take care of me."

* * *

 **Cliffhanger! Don't worry, i'll go into detail their reactions next chapter. It seems Haruhi's feelings were pretty hurt by Kakashi. I wonder how he will make it up to her. And while she holds grudges, it's good to see her put them aside to help others, isn't it!**


	12. Shell-Shocked

_In which revelations are made and sugar cookies are baked._

* * *

A moment of complete and stifling disbelief blanketed the air.

The shock was so heavy she felt the tips of her hair stand on end. Naruto, who normally couldn't shut up, was open mouthed in shock and looked remarkably like a fish with his opening and closing mouth like a bad drawer hinge. The other two weren't faring well either.

It was the most expressive she had ever seen Sasuke, even including the bell test. His eyes popped and his jaw was locked in an effort to maintain his composure. Sakura had screamed in shock, before sputtering.

"SHE-SHE'S SO SMALL!"

Wow thanks. Her smile fell, seeing as the dumbfounded expressions had yet to soften. They were completely shell-shocked.

Then Naruto laughed and she couldn't help but sigh in relief, Kakashi's shoulders also rolling.

"Oh, I get it! You're playing with us again! You just bought a beat up doll!"

And she was going to kill him. Kakashi closed his hand around her and glared at Naruto. That orange eyesore called her a beat up doll?! She was fabulous! She punched his hand, the glove making it swelter. She considered biting his finger before reconsidering. She heard muffled yelling.

"...You mean she's real!...!?

Yeah she was! She scowled and sat on her knees, crossing her arms. Cracks of light appeared through his fingers and he slowly opened his hands, sensing she had cooled off.

She kneeled on his cup palm, blink at the three very close, very fascinated faces. She saw her reflection in three pairs of blue, green, and black eyes respectively. The doe eyes blinked in awe, and she felt Kakashi's amusement rolling off of him in waves.

"N-no way..." Sasuke for once appeared to be caught completely off guard.

"She's so cute!" Sakura's pupils had blown up wide as she looked Haruhi over, taking in her curly hair.

"Sorry for saying you weren't real, miss!" Naruto poked his hands sheepishly.

"So, you weren't joking when you said you had a tiny woman!"

"It was her." Sasuke finally decided to contribute. "You told me how to get free from the ground."

Sakura gasped.

"I thought I saw something by my face!"

"And I heard someone loosening the ropes!"

Well she wasn't nearly as 007 as she thought she was. Kakashi gave her the stink eye and she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Can I hold her?" Sakura said suddenly.

"You can do that!"

"Well, Kakashi-sensei is!"

"Hey! Don't I have a say in this?" She shouted up. She brushed her sweaty hands on her long shirt and every one sheepishly and stupidly focused on her. Out of all the kids, she actually trusted Sakura the most to hold her.

"Now now, children. You have to respect Haruhi's wishes. If she says-"

"It's fine, Sakura, just be careful." She cut Kakashi off. Said man gave her a glance downwards.

The girl cupped her comparably smaller hands upwards and she jumped from Kakashi's gloved one's to Sakura's slightly shaking ones. It was endearing to see how much the girl cared about this, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't second guessing herself. When she landed in a crouch she was self conscious with the intense stares. Sakura's fingers twitched.

"You're really pretty..." Sakura whispered in awe. "And how do you have such nice clothes?"

Yeah, Sakura was her favorite. Even if she was annoying.

With a nod of her head, Sakura poked her hair and pulled a little bit on the hem of her mid-thigh length maroon overalls. She had worn a light grey crop top underneath.

Fashion was important to her, Okay?! It made her feel better about herself, especially with being so small!

Besides, the silver buttons matched. And she could always appreciated someone who complimented her style.

"I wanna hold her..." Naruto whined reaching forward with grabby hands.

In a move that had her freezing Sakura clenched her teeth and swung a fist right into Naruto's skull.

"Jeez!" Haruhi yelped. "Naruto's dumb enough without losing more brain cells!" Honestly, Haruhi would never understand this worlds obsession with violence.

Sasuke snorted with amusement and everyone turned to stare at him. Said boy flushed slightly at the attention but didn't have to worry about being in the spotlight too long. Three hungry adolescent stomachs rumbled in unison.

She turned and looked over her shoulder, exchanging an amused glance with Kakashi. Being in college beforehand and paranoid about not making it to classes, his lack of punctuality had grated on her initially.

Now it was just amusing.

They had taken their time again and had arrived with breakfast in bellies. While the pre-teens had eaten hours beforehand, waiting for them to arrive.

Kakashi clapped his hands.

"Well, we should all go out to eat!"

Everyone agreed, and they headed towards town.

It was exactly mid afternoon, and everyone's shadows looked like muffins. The same flowers from a couple days ago were in full bloom and the air in the downtown district was thick with fat bumblebee's and the smoke of cooking food. There weren't as many people as she thought there would be, as Kakashi had taken her back from Sakura as a precaution. It seemed most of them were either in a restaurant or busy at school or work.

Naruto was leading the way, dragging everyone behind him. Sakura had raised her fist when Naruto had said something stupid. Again. But with a glance at her sitting on Kakashi's shoulder (protected by some camouflage jutsu) she had lowered it, Naruto exhaling in relief.

But as they walked she was struck with the sense of familiarity.

She and Kakashi had taken this way for the grocery shopping and to the toy store. And if she just stood on her tippy toes...

-Yes! There was The Ramen Shop!

"YEAH!" Naruto cheered, and raced ahead with surprising speed. Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi all sighed in tandem. When they caught up moments later, a man in a chef's uniform stood in the back and a pretty young woman was serving Naruto.

"Hello!" She called. Haruhi stayed quiet, while everyone nodded their greetings. That chicken ramen looked hella good and she whispered her order into Kakashi's ear. Said man giggled at the feeling before clearing his throat.

When everyone had placed their order except Sasuke and the woman and her father had their backs turned, she spoke up.

"Aren't you gonna get anything?"

"Hn."

"So what are you gonna do then? Photosynthesis?" She snarked.

Sasuke then glared up at her, and she enjoyed her perch by turning up her nose, almost falling off from Kakashi's little twitch of amusement. Naruto laughed before stopping and scratching his head.

"Uh, What's photosintheis?"

Haruhi sighed and waited for Sakura to correct him. When she looked at her, just as confused as Naruto, Haruhi took a deep breath. Everything was so backwards here. Basic science like that escaped them.

"Uh, Haruhi-" Naruto began.

"Quiet Buttercup." She murmured, suddenly very tired.

All of them were shocked when Sasuke let out a short chuckle at Naruto's expense, but he quickly cut himself off. Naruto sat and steamed angrily, but quickly cheering up when the ramen arrived.

And by god did it arrive.

Giant steaming bowls she could do laps in, filled to the brim with noodles, vegetables, and meat. The sauce was heavenly and she jumped down from Kakashi's shoulders to get closer.

She could do this safely, as the jutsu affected the two behind the counter.

Plus, ever since she got here she noticed she had been more physically able. She had chalked it up to just her cunning, but she had never been this fit before. Moving something bigger than her or jumping from that far, surviving falls? She was just more hardy now, and she wasn't sure if her body was adjusting or not. She had her theories, though. The biggest land animal in the world was the elephant. They were huge, and more importantly incapable of jumping. Fleas on the other hand, were among the smallest and were capable of jumping over a hundred times their size. She reasoned the dramatic decrease in her overall mass led her body to become more efficient-like the fleas.

Or something.

She really didn't know.

All she knew for sure was that this Ramen was the best thing she ever ate. The preteens all were enjoying their meal-even Sasuke. At her jibe the boy had rectuntaly ordered something.

"This is the best thing I've ever eaten." She said between bites of spiced chicken.

"I'm wounded." Kakashi put his hand on his chest. She didn't bother gracing that with a response. Then she ran into a problem. How was she supposed to eat? She had grabbed a piece of chicken from Kakashi, but to actually reach into the bowl and fish out some noodles? The chopsticks were bigger than her!

Sensing her dilemma Kakashi helpfully added;

"What I make you, you can eat." He almost sulked.

"Here." Naruto broke the small tips off of the end of his chopsticks and made sure there were no slivers, shaving them off with the tip of a kunai. He handed her a pair the size of her forearm. Which, was entirely too large still, but got the job done.

Everyone stopped and stared at Naruto. Because wow, an actual good idea. While she knew Naruto was capable of them from time to time, it was different seeing it up close.

"Not bad. Buttercup." Said Sasuke. Sakura nodded her head, agreeing with her crush, and Naruto was torn between yelling back at Sasuke or being happy Sakura agreed with him.

Kids.

Kakashi shared her sentiments and without further ado they dug in.

Again, she firmly believed eating with others was a sacred thing. And just as the tenseness between her and Kakashi went away after the breaking of bread, the atmosphere relaxed too. The stupefied side glances stopped and a peaceful silence settled over them.

The genin seemed fascinated watching her struggle to eat a giant noodle. The ceramic white bowls were a challenge in and of themselves to get to the edge of, her resorting to dragging the napkin dispenser(with a little help from Kakashi) and sitting on top of that. She had given up on making shoes and just went everywhere barefoot. Kakashi carried her most of the time anyway, and she had thick, calluses on her feet from an entire childhood spent running around barefoot, so it's not like it mattered much.

Then there was the business of pulling out the noodle without making a mess. She pulled out one of the napkins from below, almost falling into the bowl before Kakashi caught her. She placed it under her to catch broth. And because the metal was really cold too.

She felt Sasuke sizing her up, probably not expecting her to be so resourceful. Maybe he shouldn't be so judgemental then.

"How did you get so small?" Naruto broke in with his usual amount of tact.

With a bite of noodle sticking out of her mouth, she signaled Kakashi to take this one.

"A jutsu accident. I've been assigned to watch her." He said simply.

The three exchanged glances before turning to her. She shrugged and took a bite of a bell pepper. She took the time to observe the kids. It had fallen to an argument between Sasuke and Naruto, and between bits of food, they traded insults. Sakura had sat between them, probably on purpose.

It was clear she was the mediating force. But between struggling not to laugh at some of Naruto's funnier insults, and defending her crush, she wasn't doing a very good job.

But what fascinated her most was how well they seemed to click. Their personalities seemed to compliment each other. Sasuke's pessimism, Naruto's optimism, and Sakura's realistic personality. Now if only they could listen to each other...

When she felt a breath ruffle the napkin slightly, she knew Kakashi was on the same trail of thought as her.

"They go well together." He murmured thoughtfully.

"They're all… so childish. I can't fault them for that, but from what I've seen so far, being a ninja means growing up before you're ready, and I'm not sure they can."

He hummed in agreement.

"Hey, why aren't you eating anything?" Haruhi asked Kakashi.

"They'd just clamor to get a good look at me without the mask. I'll eat when we get home."

Made sense.

"But like, aren't you like super stealthy?"

He didn't grace that with an answer. But he did order to go.

After finishing up, they went to see what their mission would be now. Naruto had blazed a trail ahead and screamed in frustration when they were assigned another D-rank. This time, it was pulling weeds. Her and Kakashi sat under the shade. He read his porn and she amused herself by reading along and watching the three get frustrated working under the sun. Judging by the way Kakashi read his porn and giggled when something even remotely sexual was mentioned, she hazarded a guess that he didn't have a lot of experience in that aspect. He was a ninja and that would be putting himself in a vulnerable position. Idly she played with her floss-cutter-turned-makeshift-knife. It comforted her and was very handy, for cutting oranges or holes in pockets.

They had just gotten to the part where the leading protagonist had thrown her lover onto the bed when they heard screaming.

Naruto, while weeding the garden, had pulled out the herbs as well, and the woman had come out and was currently nailing him over the head with a frying pan. The other two were rolling their eyes in the background. While trying to outdo Sasuke, he had destroyed her garden.

Looking up at Kakashi, she noticed the faraway look adorning his face, almost as if remembering something.

The woman went back inside.

"Nice one, Dobe."

"Teme!"

Naruto and Sasuke were facing off, and Sakura was in between, trying and failing to stop it.

"Argh! Why doesn't anybody ever listen to me!

Kakashi sighed, ready to step in.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Everyone paused. Naruto's fist clutching Sasuke's shirt and vice versa.

"You say you're not children anymore, but then here you are! You're all supposed to be a team. Or did you forget what Kakashi's told you already?"

The fight rapidly dissipated.

It was rather uneventful after that. The mission was technically complete and they parted ways.

But instead of them heading back home, they took a turn downtown and headed down a familiar path. She had a feeling she knew where and when they opened the door to they toy store her guess was confirmed. She didn't know they were coming here and sent an inquiring look from her perch on his shoulder.

Smiling nervously, he rubbed the back of his head.

"I forgot to tell you, but Kasumi has your clothes ready." A jolt of excitement had her shoot to her feet and she almost fell off.

"Really?!" She jumped and in her excitement, then hugged and kissed Kakashi's cheek.

She jumped back, worrying she crossed a line.

Peeking between the curtain of her hair, she was gratified to see the blush on the quarter of his face and the obviously speechless expression. One of his hands was cupping his cheek, and his eye was trained on her.

Was it possible that Kakashi...no, she was imagining things.

She had toyed with the possibility beforehand, but with the whiplash from dimension hopping, the confusion, and her sudden adjustment in height, her head had been too crowded to entertain it. But is was silly anyway.

"A hmm." Someone cleared their throat.

Kasumi stood there with her arms crossed and an amused smirk gracing her aging face. She looked younger than before, frown lines less prominent. She seemed to have a healthy glow to her and her hair, which was slightly greasy last time, was shining and up in a braid.

"Kasumi! Looking good!"

Kasumi's smirk widened into a grin and her eyes twinkled.

"My favorite customer. Stuff's in the back."

The other employee was in the side of the shop and politely ignored them.

They made their way behind the heavy wooden door and into the back where she had been measured last time. It was cleaner than before, well dusted, and a curtain blocking a window she hadn't known was there was parted, sunlight on fabric. In the corner she noticed a package full of tiny clothes-perfect for her. Most of the dolls here weren't her size, and thus the clothes weren't either. She was stuck switching between 5 outfits.

Kakashi, who only really wore one thing (his ninja gear) was left out of the loop.

"I've never truly meet anyone like you. And not just because of your size. It's inspired me, and I wanted to show you something.."Kasumi said.

"What is it?" She asked, blinking in surprise; Kakashi's attention focused.

Kasumi, with the energy of someone much younger, went to a shelf and pulled out a box. Opening it, she lifted a doll, the exact same size as her and placed it in front of her on the wooden table. It was like looking into a mirror. The only differences between her and the doll was the coloration.

It has the same small almond eyes, upturned nose, prominent jawline, and high cheekbones. The differences was the lighter skin tone, and long dark hair. It looked more Japanese instead of African American.

She was speechless. The doll was clearly a masterpiece, but it felt like the bottom of her stomach turned over. But seeing Kasumi with so much life in her, she just couldn't tell her that.

"It's-It's amazing!" It was, really.

"The craftsmanship is top-notch." Kakashi observed from right next to her.

"I'm planning on creating a few more varied ones-nothing to big, and I just wanted you to know about it. We don't really have any realistic dolls in Konoha, so I used your measurements to create some to scale."

That was a smart idea, but Haruhi couldn't help but feel...violated, in some way.

"I've asked customers coming into the store, and all agreed it would be interesting to see this doll. I'll use the profits to keep making you clothes and other accessories."

Oh. Kasumi was asking her permission to do this, and sweetening the pot with the deal of future freebie's. Her mind flashed back to the first time they were here, and Kakashi not having to pay anything.

Haruhi may not like this, but she knew a good deal when she saw one.

"That's a great idea!" She grinned rather widely. Kakashi had grown from relaxed to serious in the background, but made no move.

They worked out the details of that, and Haruhi threw in a couple suggestions of what Kasumi could do. Delighted, Kasumi told her about her brother, who was a carpenter and occasionally helped building dollhouses. If she needed any specialized furniture to make life a bit easier, Kasumi said he could get it done without having to know about her. This time Haruhi smiled a but more genuinely.

Kakashi then finally piped in with a great idea.

"Could your brother make mini staircases?"

He said he would stop by with the measurements later. It would sure be easier than the string.

just as they turned to leave, inconspicuous black bag in hand, a call stopped them. Kasumi slipped the almost look-alike doll into the bag, then bid them farewell.

It was quiet on the way home.

Kakashi placed the bags down on the counter and gently took her from his shoulder, placing her carefully next to the fruit bowl-knowing it was her favorite. Had it always been like this? She guessed you didn't go through a breakdown then get comforted by someone to not like them. He rummaged through some of then shelves, the pulled out the cookie jar with the bees on it.

He turned and rubbed his head again, trying to explain.

"Since you aren't hungry, I figured instead of making dinner we could make dessert."

"Sound logic." She complemented.

He visibly brightened, and placed it to her left. While she inspected the bee design, he pulled out some flour he must have got from the store.

"What type do you want?" She asked. She didn't actually know what they could make.

"I was thinking whatever you wanted would be fine."

"Hm. How about sugar cookies? I like sweet things."

"I can do that." He murmured.

She entertained herself by tracing the slightly raised canary yellow bumblebee's on the jar. The background was a smooth paper creme color and felt just as smooth as it looked trailing her fingers over it.

He gathered all the ingredients around the table, setting them next to her so she could read the labels. He crossed over into the living room and he ran to the edge of the counter to see what he was doing. He slide the half door over to the other side, revealing a whole bunch of books she hadn't seen before. She was unable to make out the titles from here, but he pulled out a thicker one and slid the door back in place.

He blew dust from the book (unsuccessfully) and placed it in front of the fruit bowl. Opening it, he said;

"You like books, don't you?"

"Yep."

"Can you read the directions then while I mix?"

Uh oh.

Could she?

She noticed most of the texts she had seen weren't in English. Running over to the book and hopping on, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was written in English for most of it, and there were pictures detailing the rest. So she could help Kakashi after all. A rush of unexpected relief had her dizzy for a second.

He pulled the eggs out of the fridge and didn't notice the side was open. When he turned back towards her, one came loose.

In slow motion, the white egg fell.

SPLAT.

He looked like it was the end of the world. Point blank staring at the scattered egg in disbelief.

She lowered her voice.

"Hi, I'm Kay-kay-she, I'm a Talen-ted ninjay."

He whipped his head to her, fiery blush erupting from his face. He stuttered, trying to explain what just happened.

"Jeez Kay-kay-she, the only thing hotter than you right now is the oven."

She took pity on the man and leafed through the instructions while he sheepishly cleaned it up. His personality now and then from testing the kids deeply contrasted.

He brought over the remaining eggs, making a point of putting his hand over the corner. She laughed and he recovered enough to set the ingredients down. She murmured the instructions that Kakashi picked up easily enough with his hearing. He was contemplatively silent, humming to signify he heard her. He doled the batter onto the sheet, and she read aloud the cooking time.

After he placed the tray in the oven and closed it, a peaceful silence settled in the kitchen along with the smell of baking dough.

She pretended to be absorbed within the book. It wasn't hard, as a lot of the recipes were new to her, and she wanted to be able to help with future desserts. But if years of public education taught her anything at all, it was how to pay attention to two things at once. So while reading about cakes, she read Kakashi.

As an elite ninja, he didn't give much away. Or normally, he wouldn't, but now, he might as well have been a book. He had whipped out his own Icha Icha, but his eyes weren't moving with the text. He was relaxed against the counter, all except for the tense way he held the book. He had unpacked his ramen and with the book hiding his face, ate it.

He wanted to talk about something.

"Haruhi?"

"Hm?" She looked up.

He seemed to strengthen under her gaze.

"I wouldn't have minded."

Genuinely confused, she asked;

"What do you mean?"

"You were uncomfortable earlier with the doll. You didn't have to go along with it if it meant saving me some money." He said, completely serious.

She was speechless. He then smiled.

"Besides, it's as you said, I'm a talen-ted ninjay, I have money to spare and then some."

Her eyes softened.

"I know you're right. It's just that, being here is just..." She searched for words.

"...It make you feel..."

"...Small."

Haruhi didn't know where this was coming from, and neither did Kakashi, judging by the surprised look on her face. But Haruhi just couldn't seem to stop herself.

"There's a lot I can't do now, and I'd be lying if I said that didn't affect me. I'm just dependent on you, and I don't like the feeling of being virtually useless and bothering someone else. Before all this, I did everything on my own and was reliant completely on myself. I miss that. "

He had put down his ramen and book, pulling up his mask. Focused on her

"Don't get me wrong, all the people I've met so far have been nothing but great to me. Konoha is a beautiful place and I can see why you call it your home."

"It's just... it's just not my home."

It seemed the more she talked, the more her true feelings made themselves known. Not even she had known how she had felt until now.

"You've been taking care of me, and I'm grateful. It's just that you shouldn't have to. With the doll, it reminded me how out-of-place I am here. I thought I could be less of a burden that way. But I felt like a doll-something pretty to look at, but not a person. And I know that's not true, but since when have feelings ever cared about facts?"

She sat on the corner of the cookbook, looking down at her clasped hands. The tears welling up in her eyes blurred them.

There was a careful silence in the kitchen. Broken by the stove beeping.

He pulled on oven mitts and set the sheet down a foot away from her. She felt the heat on her side, but kept her head down, ashamed of crying. Suddenly a cookie, smaller than the rest (about the size of her chest), made specially for her-appeared in front of her now covered clasped hands.

"Cookie?"

She nodded and took it, but not a bite. They sat there silently for awhile.

"That cookie is smaller than the rest."

She looked up through a cloud of hair.

"That doesn't mean it won't be any less delicious than the others. It's still a cookie."

Oh. He was trying to comfort her. In his own socially awkward way.

She hiccoughed with a giggle. His face melted with relief.

"Are you comparing me to a cookie?"

"Why not? You're sweet like one."

She tossed her head back and laughed, dislodging the last tear.

"You really are a ninja. No one else would have been able to pull a smooth move like that!"

"You aren't useless. Look at how you helped me make the cookies. And earlier, when you got Naruto and Sasuke to stop fighting. Not just anyone can do that. And you take care of yourself. Clever things like figuring out how to open the cabinet and even rolling the onion across the table."

She sniffed and rubbed her face.

"Yeah, you're right."

He chuckled too, and she nibbled happily on the cookie.

"Hamster Haruhi."

The rest of the time went like that. They leafed through the book and talked about what they could make next. The same atmosphere from before surrounded them, relaxed peaceful, and...something else.

* * *

 **Sorry the uploads are so sparse! Tell me what you thought!**


	13. Picture-Perfect

_In which Haruhi understandably freaks out and then freaks out again._

* * *

It was with a dramatic gasp and a frantic dash when she realized Kakashi had forgotten to take the group picture.

He hit his eyes with both palms, muttering to himself.

"I'm not sure if a professional will be available today..." He muttered.

"You alright there, buddy?" She sipped her tea from a cleaned out medicine cup. The cups her size had holes in them. They had tried to use them, but they figured they weren't actually meant to be used like that. She climbed the cookie jar, using the honeybee's as foot holds, and grabbed a giant cookie. It was entirely too big for her so she kneed it in half. The handed the slightly larger half to Kakashi who was still stressing internally.

"Oh wha- thank you. " He said, pinching the cookie. She nodded and inched her way out of the jar, feet dangling and trying to find a bee wing. Her gripped tightened when her feet found no purchase on the slippery glazed surface.

Warm fingertips under her cause a relieved sigh to echo across the cookies. Pulling herself the rest of the way out, along with her cookie, she landed on Kakashi's open palm stomach up and laying on her back. She blinked and Kakashi quirked an eyebrow in amusement.

"You alright there, buddy?" The foreign word rolled of his tongue.

"Eat your cookie."

She closed her eyes and nibbled on her half, and she heard the tell tale crumbling of a cookie. He started walking, evidently feeling better.

"When we start our mission today, I can take the picture and hand it in at the desk." He spoke aloud.

"Sounds good. You'll be fine. You're always know for being late, so that probably applies to pictures too. " She said. Her eyes remained closed, enjoying the feeling of his steps.

"You're right!"

He slipped her into his pocket while simultaneously pulling the digital camera out of another. Haruhi had been initially surprised that a backwards world like this had something so advanced, as she remembered their official picture was taken with something that looked like it was from the 1800's. But it made sense the good technology was saved only for the higher ranking ninja. This, of course led Haruhi to ponder about the class difference between ninja and civilians and how the restricting of technology was holding their entire world back, before she became too depressed to continue.

He checked it over before humming good naturedly and dropping it on Haruhi.

"Hey!"

Kakashi hummed on his way there, a habit he had seemed to pick up recently. She decided to check out the camera.

The camera was gray, and she wasn't sure what shade because of the pocket's dim lighting, but it had a black ring around the lens. The power button was on the top and the shutter button was on the front. She couldn't quite get to that, as it was facing away from her.

She jumped a bit when Kakashi's humming increased. Then she realized it was a good thing and a grin stretched across her face. She turned it on and was correct in her assumption-it was a very primitive digital camera. And if this is what the elites got, she didn't even want to know what regular cameras were like. Well, she did, but that's besides the point.

Since it was so simple, she had no problem with setting it on a timer, leaning it back against the pocket, and striking a pose. She grinned, took off her glasses, popped an unsteady squat, fluffed her hair, and made a heart with her hands. A flash in the darkness was her signal. She did a couple more, including a hilarious one where she was on top of the camera and looking over into the lense, but she knew they were arriving soon. And this thing didn't have much storage space. So she turned it off and acted like it never happened.

Kakashi hummed all the while.

It took a bit, but when they arrived it was punctuated by duo screams of 'YOU'RE LATE', from Sakura and Naruto.

She climbed the camera and poked her head out, blinking sunlight from her lashes.

A tap to her head, and then a hand in front of her. She rolled onto Kakashi's palm and he placed her on his shoulder.

"Good morning Haruhi!" Sakura cheered.

"Morning." She said back.

Without pausing Kakashi walked past and continued on his way towards the mission desk. She could tell the three were in a grumpy mood. All of them were getting fed up with these D-ranks. And with the being dragged by dogs, babysitting, and weed-pulling, it's probably not the glamorous life they had imagined.

Kakashi didn't bother to go inside, instead opting to read his book outside. In the clear, she popped her head up.

"-Aw, c'mon guys, this mission doesn't sound so bad, It's a rescue mission. How cool is that!? Right Sakura?"

A rescue mission? Kakashi seemed to know what was going on, if the chuckling was anything to go by.

"Just what do you know?" She whispered suspiciously. He only laughed louder.

"You know, whatever grueling mission they've accepted, you're gonna have to do it with them."

He stopped chuckling.

She peeked from her trusted eye-hole, and found them approaching a part of the Forest she had never seen before. The trees were taller and the undergrowth sparse.

When the three had realized they were basically chasing down a cat they complained but ultimately couldn't do anything about it since they had already accepted. Kakashi distributed three ear pieces to the genin and kept one for himself.

"Your mission is to capture the cat-Tora, unharmed. Report over the radio pieces. GO!" They took off into the trees with a whoosh. Haruhi pondered about how radio pieces like this were only used for ninja missions.

"…"

"So... there's more to this cat than it says, right? Like is it a demon or something?"

"It could be."

"Well, I wanna listen in, so make way."

"Huh-what?"

She gripped the fabric of the vest, digging her nails into it, and climbed to his shoulder. He was carefully still. She swung her leg over the neck ruffs, deeming herself close enough to listen in.

He was still still.

"You alright there buddy?"

"Fine! Fine."

It was silent over the radio. Evidently, they were still getting into position or something. A bead of sweat trailed down Kakashi's forehead. She stared at it, wondering about Kakashi's recent behavior. She remembered in the toy store kissing his cheek, and the bout of speechlessness that followed. The mask was soft, and seemed to be make out of a sturdy breathable material, like silk. At this angle she could appreciate the shadows of a jawline. Her eyes trailed her thoughts, following his features.

His hair stood on end. But it always stood on end. She balanced on a clavicle and almost fell when it twitched.

"Sorry!" He whispered, for no apparent reason. She hummed into his ear, staring at his hair and ignoring the shiver resulting from it.

"Kakashi..." She breathed in his ear.

"...Yes?"

"Don't take this the wrong way...but your hair looks like a cumulonimbus cloud."

Tension leaked out of him like a popped balloon, and a cloud of depression surrounded him.

"W-wait! I meant that as a good thing! I think your hair's cool!"

"You do?"

"ARGH! STOP FLIRTING! WERE IN POSITION!"

She fell into the ruff and Kakashi was blown backwards from the ear piece. Sakura and Sasuke made noises of agreement.

"Wait! Where did the cat go?" Said Sakura, thankfully not shouting.

"Nice, dobe. Your shouting scared it away."

It took a bit for them to find the cat again. Reporting their positions over the intercom, Kakashi walked around a clearing, instructing them.

"The target has moved! Follow it!"

Jumping was heard, and then the screeching and yowling of a cat. Naruto shrieked over the intercom as Sasuke reported the mission success. They regrouped to a cat violently beating up Naruto while the other two watched in mild interest. Having spotted some catnip earlier growing in a ditch, Haruhi told Sakura to get some. The cat, Tora calmed after that.

"Hey Kakashi? Didn't you need to take a picture?" He nodded.

"Alright, my cute little students, we are going to be taking a picture."

"What?! I don't want a picture with Sasuke!"

"Same."

"You guys!"Sakura stomped her foot."I thought you were better than that. Sasuke! And Naruto!" Said boy flinched, wide eyed at his crush." If we take a picture you won't have to be next to Sasuke. I'll go in the middle."

As if to punctuate her point, she walked in-between the two. Sasuke looked like he couldn't believe Sakura had actually bad mouthed him, and Naruto looked happy at the prospect of being next to Sakura.

Kakashi pulled out the camera, with her on top of it, tilting it so she wouldn't fall off.

"I can take the picture of you guys." Haruhi said.

"Aww, but I wanted you in the picture..." Naruto whined.

"No, Naruto, we want as little people as possible to know about her, being in the picture would jeopardize that."

Ouch. Made sense, but ouch.

"Why can't we put her in Kakashi-sensei's pocket and put the camera on a timer?" Sakura said in a 'duh' sort of voice."I need help keeping Naruto and Sasuke apart."

That sounded good to everyone.

Kakashi put the camera on a tree stump and she jumped into his pocket. He fiddled with some of the switches, pausing and giving her a raised eyebrow, which she responded with a cheesy grin. Naruto and Sasuke were already butting heads, digging up clumps of grass with how hard they were pushing. Kakashi pushed them apart by the head and placed a steadying hand on each shoulder. Sakura hunkered down in the middle, smiling.

"Naruto, stop glaring at Sasuke. And Sasuke, could you maybe, oh, I don't know, scowl less?"

"...Hn." Said boy flushed, looking away sheepishly. For dramatic effect, she stuck the top of her head out of the pocket, where only her hair could be seen. Again, a flash went off, signifying the picture was taken. Sasuke immediately broke away. Sakura turned around instead, speed causing her long pink hair to fly out.

She cupped her hands, obviously asking to hold Haruhi. Kakashi tilted his head, a spike of grey hair brushing her. Asking if it was alright.

"It's fine. Us girls gotta stick together."

She jumped to Sakura's hand, Kakashi flinching slightly in surprise.

The three crowded around Kakashi, and exchanging a glance that immediately aroused suspicion, Naruto took a deep breath.

"Were tired of D-ranks! We want better missions!"

Sasuke and Sakura nodded. Then they did something unexpected.

They all turned and looked at her in Sakura's hands.

"Can we?" Sakura simpered, lifting her up to the puppy dog eyes. At this point, it had been two weeks since the bell test, and they went on D-ranks basically everyday, sometimes doing more than one. She could see why they were getting tired.

"U-uh, ask Kakashi!"

Said man was baffled, his eye then narrowing in thought.

"We'll have to ask the Hokage."

"YEAH! Your future Hokage deserves better!"And with that Naruto lead the way, Sakura and Sasuke not far behind. Sakura ran back, handing Haruhi over, before catching up, the other two waiting for her.

"..."

"It's not normal for genin to receive anything more than a D-rank this early on." He informed.

"Well the basis is teamwork, right? Look at what they just did. Look at the glance they shared. Sakura planned to ask for me, because she knew you'd be more easily swayed. Naruto knew when to butt in, and Sasuke...well, he didn't protest. They worked together to get that maybe from you." She murmured, stupefied.

"You're right..."

He chuckled.

"There's hope for them yet."

Kakashi placed her on his shoulder, and she gripped the green neck ruff as he started after them. They were halfway to the Hokage tower when her heart froze and she lost her grip from pure fear.

A rush of wind and she was cupped in Kakashi's hands, the man himself looking shocked and a bit guilty.

"Was I going too fast?"

"N-no, I just lost my grip."

"Hm, I was going to suggest for you to go into the pocket anyway. You sure you're okay?" His hands were cupped slightly around her.

"Yeah." And he couldn't tell if that was an answer or an agreement. Either way he made sure she was secure, and she made sure he couldn't see her before she bit down on her hand in a silent scream.

She needed to go home, dammit!

The mission to waveland, or whatever, was soon. And she knew it was much more than a C-rank. Try A-rank, which was basically the hardest you could get. She was supposed to be gone by now. Hell, winter break was probably over all ready. And if she was right about this(which she was) then Kakashi and the pre-teens would be gone for at least three weeks!

She felt like she was forgetting something else...

Fuck! Patches! Her poor baby! She jolted upwards, before forcibly sitting down. She didn't know how close she was to the tower. Quickly she peeked out of the hole. It seemed Kakashi was going a bit slower than normal, probably worried about her falling or something. Or maybe, she thought, he found Naruto's rage amusing.

At any rate, she hit her forehead against the pocket inside. Her cat was probably fine. God knows how many times she had to rip dead rodents out of its mouth. She also left the third story attic window open. Fuck, she should have closed that.

The point was, despite how close she had gotten to Kakashi, she couldn't help but feel it was time to go home.

Unwillingly, images of the past few weeks rushed to the front of her mind. Arriving in a sterile manicured house, with the curtains closed and the smell of greasy takeout noodles because there was really no reason for a home cooked meal. The place was dark and locked up. Well taken care of, but still had the air of barely caring and barely concealed depression. The counter was empty of fruits and cookies, and the bookshelf was gathering dust.

The only light had come from the doorway in which they stood in, and his shadow looked lonely in the door frame silhouette. As if to prove her then point, a flower was shriveled in a cup.

Now, there were pillows in the living room where she had convinced Kakashi to build a pillow fort. She was astonished when she heard he had never built one. Bright yellow buttercups resided in a ceramic vase about the size she was-which Sakura had made on one of the missions. She had loved the flowers and Kakashi noticed, getting her more. Depending on the day, the house smelt of dinner or dessert, wafting from the kitchen and filling the house with life. The curtains were often open letting light leak in, and window screens brought in the smell of wind and ruffled Kakashi's hair.

But then there was her home.

It was...home.

She had been a only child and her father had died of heart disease when she was thirteen. He went peacefully in his sleep, something anybody would be jealous of. Her mother was a business women and often wasn't home, so for the latter half of her life, she had the place all to herself. A medium sized home that was never lonely, friends always visiting. The cool basement with video games, the attic with antiques, and the stylish but comfortable rooms. A garden in the back, filled mostly with vegetables but sunflowers as well. Tall oak trees and a small pond. Every spring a pair of mated duck would land there.

She took care of most of her own needs with money from her mother and then herself, working stable jobs. She inherited her father's car and her life was so free and liberating everyone was jealous of her to some extent.

She wondered, did Kakashi get visitors like her? Was he lonely in his own house? From the time that she had been here, he had received almost no visitors except Gai who was rejected, an a few others on business.

Would he be lonely when she left?

Was this a dream?

She always had a vivid imagination and colorfully described everyday things. This transferred over into her dreams. More often than not she would lucid dream and remember them when she woke up. She still remembered dreams from her childhood, just because of the sheer details in them. She would wake up crying with tears on her face if it was sad, and a smile when she dreamed of happy years.

This didn't feel like a lucid dream, and if it wasn't she needed to get back.

Pronto.

How Kakashi felt or what he felt wasn't on her. He had team seven, it would be better if she left.

...But what about what she felt?

The light-hearted banter she and Kakashi shared didn't seem as fun anymore, and neither did team seven's dynamic. Neither did the fast approaching C-rank.

As if on cue, Kakashi stepped into the mission room.

She clutched the fabric like it was a life-line, eyes zeroing in on the Hokage. She was here! She peeked her arm out and waved when everyone's attention was on the woman suffocating Tora. His eyes glimmered and his fingers did a tiny wave in response. That's right! Don't forget about her!

"NOOOOO. I WANNA GO ON A REAL MISSION!SOMETHING CHALLENGING AND EXCITING NOT THIS LITTLE KID STUFF!"

Kakashi sighed.

"HOW DARE YOU!" yelled Iruka, equally loud. "YOU ARE JUST A BRAND NEW GENIN WITH NO EXPERIENCE! LIKE EVERYONE ELSE YOU START WITH SIMPLE MISSIONS TO DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS AND IMPROVE YOURSELF."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS BABYSITTING IS NOT A MISSION IT'S JUST A STUPI-AGHHH!"

"Will you put a lid on it." Said a annoyed Kakashi, hand in a loose fist from where he socked Naruto. She almost fell out of the pocket, and gave a good kick against his chest. Naruto screamed a bit more and rolled on the floor.

"Naruto!" Said the Hokage. She perked up. She needed to listen to him because he was her ticket out of here. "It seems you do not understand the tasks that have been given."

Teach her. Enlighten her.

The Hokage launched into an explanation of sorts on how missions and their assignments work, Haruhi listening attentively. She could use this later.

"So you are given-hm!?" The Hokage cut himself off when he realized no one was listening.

"So I had this tonkatsu ramen yesterday and I'm thinking miso ramen today-" said Naruto from his position of crisscross applesauce from the floor.

"Silence!"

Everyone turned to look at the Hokage. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, sorry."

Naruto launched into a spiel about not being a little kid anymore then proceeded to turn his back to the Hokage and cross his arms and sulked angrily.

"Channeling your inner Sasuke now?" She muttered perhaps a bit too loudly as Kakashi laughed and Sasuke glared at her. She got passive-aggressive when she was upset not her fault.

"So be it."

"Huh?!" Said everyone.

"Since you are so determined" Pause for dramatic effect "I am going to give you a C-ranked mission."

And fuck there it was. What would happen to her?

"You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

"Really? Yes! Who!Who! Are we guarding a princess, or some big Councillor!" Shouted Naruto, turning around. Sasuke lent forward Sakura having grabbed his arm in excitement. She grabbed Kakashi's vest. Sinking down, she pressed her face to the peeping hole, as if it would reveal all the answers to her internal debate.

"...Send in our visitor!"

Team seven turned with curiosity, along with her stomach.

The door slid open and the first thing that was visible was a bottle of beer, with a beer belly close behind.

"What tha- a bunch of snot nosed kids? He took a swig, beer dripping into his beard. Naruto stood up with a 'hu?'

"And you the little one with the idiotic look on your face, you really expect me to believe your a ninja?" For a second she thought he was talking about her and was about to jump out, but then Sakura and Sasuke lined up side-by-side with Naruto, showcasing him as the smallest ninja.

"HAHAHAHA, who's the idiotic one with the look on his-

"…"

-I'LL DEMOLISH YOU!"

"You can't demolish the client, Naruto, it doesn't work that way." Kakashi said, very annoyed at this point.

The man took another swig, his face becoming serious and the red drunken haze dissipating.

"I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder. I must return to my country I am building a bridge there that will change our world. And I expect you to get me there safely even if it means giving up your life."

The details were worked out and the three-even Sasuke, dashed off to get packed.

So did Kakashi. He didn't say it but he way pretty hyped to.

She wasn't.

When they got back and she didn't immediately jump out-being curled in a ball at the bottom of his pocket- he picked her out, concerned.

"Haruhi!?"

She was pale and sweaty, trembling slightly. She mechanically twisted and pulled her hair-a nervous tick. And jumped when Kakashi said her name.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing! It's-it's just I haven't been feeling well recently." She winced at how obviously thin the excuse was. Even if it was true. She couldn't just tell him she knew his entire past, present and future. More honestly, she said

"I've just been a little homesick... and I've left people behind." Kakashi knew she was asking; when she could go home, but he also read it was just more than homesickness.

"What's got you worried?" He teased, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"...Did you notice the way Tazuna spoke? How he went out of his way to point out the weaknesses within the team? Like he was worried about them? And then the way he put emphasis on protecting him, even with their lives when he had just called them snot-nosed brats? This is a C-rank, so there shouldn't be a need for death, right?I think there's more to Tazuna, and I agree when the Hokage said they should still be doing D-ranks."

He became deathly silent, obviously digesting her words, combining them with his own suspicions. And then he did something unexpected.

He chuckled. She looked up, heart beating with offense.

"It's a shame you weren't born here, you would have made a great ninja."

That pleased her more than it should have. "But I wasn't born here, and I don't belong, I need to go home." The 'now' was left unsaid, but still there.

He leveled a considering look at her.

"Is the C-rank upsetting you? Because were going out of the village." He stated. She could only nod, throat suspiciously choked up.

"Well... you could stay here."

By herself?!

FUCK NO.

But Kakashi seemed to think that was a good idea.

"-I'll summon Pakkun, and you can meet Gai, he's competent enough-"

Panic rose in her chest and a sob almost tore from her chest. The only way you could tell though, was the widening of her eyes.

"-I have concerns of my own with this mission and if we hadn't already agreed to it, we wouldn't be going. But now I know for sure not to take you with. It'd be dangerous."

On one hand, she didn't want to go. She definitely didn't want to go. On the other hand, Kakashi really was the only person she trusted with her safety. She had never even met Gai!

"But I feel safe with you!"

...

Oh shit, she say that?

"An-and if you left, I'd feel worse." She finished in a whisper.

...

His features were shadowed by his hair.

"Haruhi, our mission may be to guard Tanzuna, but my mission is to keep you safe. To protect you from harm, and this mission isn't shaping up to be pleasant."

"How are you supposed to protect me from harm if you're not here?" She winced, realizing how she sounded.

"I can't take you with, outside of Konoha's protection."

"...Okay." She nodded firmly, desperately reigning her emotions.

Dinner wasn't really dinner. It was more Kakashi getting ready and her wrestling with a crisis that didn't end with the dinner.

Wide-eyed, she laid in her matchbox bed. She wished for some form of comfort and almost felt the phantom weight of a cat curled by her feet. This was serious. This C-rank cranked up the violence in Naruto. It's when the toilet humor and accidental kissing is over. People died on this mission. She would be squashed like a bug. Would she be a murderer by keeping silent? What if Kakashi dies this time?

She threw back the covers, bumping into a book spine because of the tears blurring her vision, the terrible vision itself, and the darkness of the room. She groped in-between the books looking for something. When she found it she held it at a arms length, sniffled, then hugged it.

She dragged the doll her back to bed and wrapped her legs around it's waist. She took a deep breath, trying to fall asleep.

Her face screwed up in frustration and she threw the doll down on the bed, scooted out, and jumped down from the bookshelf, stumbling at the bottom. Quiet as a mouse, she padded to the kitchen.

'It's too bad the stairs aren't in yet' she thought as she shimmed up the string.

Rolling onto the counter, she made her way over to Kakashi's vest laying left of the cookie jar. She stood, shuffling like a kid outside their parent's door before she took a deep breath and crawled into the pocket, closing it behind her. It was completely dark in here, and pressed comfortingly from all sides. There was her peek hole and a space at the bottom where she normally curled up.

But most of all, it smelled like Kakashi.

A smile curled up onto her face as she remembered her first time in the pocket. She had fallen asleep then too, hadn't she? She drifted off to sleep, dreaming about a snow-land and chasing a silver bunny with a mask over its face.

Laughing as she tripped over snow banks.

* * *

 **I KNOW I'M SORRY! Finals are nothing to stick your nose up at! Anyway, this is in honor of over a hundred reviews and over 200 favorites.**


	14. Sweet Dreams

_In which Haruhi dreams and then wishes she was dreaming._

* * *

Everything was so beautiful here.

Pine trees rose in green spires, with snow on their ends and icicles that you could pluck off and lick. She plucked one off and offered it to the bunny in her arms. It's nose twitched, and nibbled on the end of the icicle, ice flakes falling on her arm.

It was a mostly flat terrain, a frozen over stream a few yards away. Her and the bunny and slid over it and had chased each other. Parched now, The icicles were the only source of water. The bunny was warm and reassuring in her arms, and after a few nibbles, squeaked and hopped around her ankles.

Their game of tag resumed and it was when she was clipped by a low hanging branch she realized she was dreaming. Normally this was the part that if she wasn't careful she would wake up. She banished that thought and chased Bunny. There was a constant rocking, and a part of her though maybe they were all on a giant boat.

While chasing Bunny, she ran across a familiar boulder. The wind picked up in random intervals, sometimes monotone, and other times loud and angry. It raised and lowered like a voice. It whipped her hair around.

But this dream was so sweet and relaxing, she could swear the powdered snow was sugar. It was so nice compared to what she had been going through recently. The howls picked up and she raised her bare forearms to cover her face.

The wind picked up so ferociously she was blown right out of her dream.

Eyes snapped open in confusion to a hot dark room. She heard the wind again, but this time the words were distinguishable.

Last thing she remembered was falling asleep...in Kakashi's pocket.

"…"

Where was she now? There was a little hole in the wall so she leaned forward to peek. She blinked the light out a couple time and there was a few blurry images in front of her. It looked like the genin.

Oh Fuck.

Oh god, this could not be happening!

The movements, they were footsteps! She had never left Kakashi's pocket!

She needed to know how far they were into the journey. If they were just starting out it would be no big deal to get her back. She blinked rapidly as she tried to hold back tears. How far along were they? She strained her ears, deathly still. It seemed like they weren't talking much.

"Say, Tanzuna?" Asked Sakura.

"What is it?"

"Your country is the land of waves, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

She remembered this! Wouldn't they be attacked soon? In that case...

She clutched the fabric, still lying on her side. She needed to stop delaying and let Kakashi know she was here. No matter how upset he would be. A rush of something flooded her veins with strength. She could do this. Kakashi continued with his explanation of the ninja villages, assuring the children they would not be attacked. Ha.

She wrestled with herself. Her thigh itched but if she moved her hand Kakashi would notice. But if they were going to be attacked soon it wouldn't matter cause Kakashi would survive. She heard the sound of running water.

 _Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump._ She could hear his heart from this angle.

She took a shaky breath, then kicked as hard as she could.

 _Ba-bump...Ba-bumpBa-bumpBa-bumpBa-bump-_

Lighting quick and just as silent, she was grabbed out of the pocket. Now here comes the thunder.

He pinned her in his hand with a thumb and a piercing stare. He wiped his expression blank, scanning her. He then sighed. They were in the back of the group, Kakashi having taken up the rear in a protective move as he was the strongest. None of them noticed.

He sighed again.

"What's wrong Kakashi sense-OH!" Screamed Naruto, naturally the loudest. The call chased off birds in near by trees. Five pairs of eyes were on her.

"Wh-what is this?!" Yelled Tazuna. He dropped his beer bottle in shock, staring at her wrapped in Kakashi's hand.

"What is she doing here? It's dangerous outside of Konoha." Said Sasuke. It was too late to pretend she wasn't here, and thanks to Naruto's big mouth Tazuna knew about her. They had technically already met, but he didn't know that.

"-I'm so glad you're here cause we had been doing D-ranks together for awhile now and it's always more fun with you around and we were so upset when Kakashi sensei said you weren't coming-" Babbled Naruto, reaching out to her.

Kakashi mechanically lifted her higher, out of his reach. They were in a dead stop in the middle of a dirt road, trees on either side. In front of them was a creek and she knew as soon as they crossed to the other side and walked a bit they were basically fucked.

"Put me with Tazuna." Haruhi blurted.

"ME?!" Said the baffled man.

"Haruhi, what are you talking about-"

"Staying with Kakashi is the wiser move, as he is a jounin-"

"You can stay with me!"

Each of the genin spouted.

"Haruhi." Kakashi said tersely. Everyone fell silent, obviously sensing his inner conflict.

"Well your mission is to protect Tazuna? If I'm with him, It'll be easier to protect me."

"It'll also make you a bigger target."

"Whoa whoa whoa, you guys worry too much!" Laughed Naruto.

"Not now!" Haruhi and Kakashi said in tandem. A bead of sweat rolled down Tazuna's face, something both of them noticed.

"Go with Sakura." It wasn't a question. And judging by his pissed off expression she wasn't gonna argue. Well it's not her fault he couldn't tell she was in his pocket! Sakura held out her hands, smiling smugly at the two boys.

But now that she thought about it, it made sense why he chose Sakura. Like her he didn't trust Tazuna. He did dupe them but he was a good guy-he just didn't know that get. He needed his hands free in case of an attack, Sasuke as the second most powerful would need to be free too. And Naruto was too reckless. Yet he didn't want to put her with Tazuna and be completely defenseless. That left Sakura.

Tazuna was still giving her the side eye in an understandable way. But the preteens seemed to have perked up since her presence was known.

"Don't let your guard down, were still on a mission." Snapped Kakashi.

They walked in silence from there, footsteps loud. Haruhi played with her hair, but instead of finding it reassuring like she normally would, her gut twisted.

And then they walked past a large puddle. On a cloudless day with no other wet spots in sight. Too far away from the creek for it to be a splash. Kakashi casually moved so he was in between the group and the puddle. Naruto and Sakura remained clueless, but Sasuke noticed Kakashi's movements. His eyes flickered to her, then back at Kakashi, and he fingered his kunai.

They walked past the puddle, and her heart pounded in her ears.

Everything exploded.

"What?!"

She screamed as thick heavy chains wrapped around Kakashi-tearing him to pieces. His yell echoed down the road.

Sakura screamed, shoving Haruhi into her bag

"KA-KAKASHI SENSEI!"Naruto froze, the whipping of the chains and clouds of dust kicked up approaching him rapidly. "Now it's your turn!" The missing-nin rasped from right behind Naruto.

"NARUTO MOVE!" Haruhi screamed.

Then Sasuke jumped into action. Alert and ready, he launched a shuriken into the center of the chain, pinning it to the tree, then whipped a kunai, nailing it into the bark. Sasuke then landed in a crouch on top of the pinned arms. Using that as leverage Sasuke donkey kicked both of them in the face.

With all attention on them her shriek was muffled by Sakura's bag when someone grabbed it. One of Sakura's wrapped strawberry chews hit her in the face. What was happening? This didn't happen in canon! Just as she was about to open her mouth again, Kakashi's face appeared, and she was overcome with relief. He shoved the bag on Tazuna then disappeared into the trees as Sakura got into a guarding position.

"Stay behind me!" Sakura yelled

The two missing nin were coming straight at them with rapid footsteps and popped out eyes on the target. Them.

Sasuke appeared in front of them, a cloud of dust gathering at his feet.

He didn't have to.

Even faster than Sasuke, Kakashi appeared and took a missing nin under each arm. His back was to her, choking them and knocking them out with each bicep. Naruto gasped and looked up from his position on the ground.

"Hi." He said casually.

Sakura gasped with moon eyes and Sasuke grunted with annoyance.

"Nice." she called out. A pile of chopped up wood laid in the spot where Kakashi was 'killed'.

"Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I just didn't think you freeze up like that." He walked into the middle of their circle, carrying the unconscious attackers. Tazuna sighed in relief, before looking down into the cavern of the bag. They both froze, not knowing what to do. Then he got a gleam in his eye. The type of gleam where you want to learn more.

Sakura grabbed the bag and pulled her, out, sniffling and pressing Haruhi to her face.

"It's okay Sakura, I know, it was pretty scary." Haruhi patted her cheek, tears falling and wetting her head.

Sakura let out a wet cough.

"I'm s-sorry, I lost the b-bag with you in it!" Sakura blurted. Haruhi opened her mouth to correct Sakura, who seemed to be beating herself up over this. Kakashi had actually taken the bag and gave it to Tazuna. Sakura hadn't lost it at all. But then Sasuke spoke before she could.

"It's fine, Sakura. I would have handled them if Kakashi hadn't." Sasuke grumbled, looking anywhere but them.

"Good job, Sasuke, very smooth. You too, Sakura." Sakura clutched on to her, mindful of her grip. Naruto in the background looked like he was questioning his entire life. Dirt clenched between his fingers as he slowly got up, staring intensely at a passive Sasuke. Kakashi leveled her a mindful look. She wondered why he put her with Tazuna, maybe because he had taken her words into account?

Sasuke turned to Naruto, but before he could say anything, she cut him off. "Sasuke, you did good. You protected both your teammates." Sasuke closed his mouth and turned away from Naruto, nodding slightly to her.

"And Naruto." He flinched. "Don't feel to down this time, I know you'll be prepared next time there's a fight." It was funny how the fight was over in seconds when she had spent the past few days worrying over it.

"She's right Naruto. But stand still, these ninja had poison in their claws we need to remove it from you quickly." Kakashi said briskly.

Naruto lifted his injured hand up, trembling.

"By the way, Mr. Tazuna, we need to talk." He said, leveling a chilling glance at the bridge builder. Naruto might as well have been a statue. Kakashi tied up the Nin with some help from Sasuke, and they all gathered around, before Kakashi launched into an explanation.

"They're chunin from the village hidden in the mist, their specialty is relentless attack, they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice."

"How did you know about our ambush?" One of the missing nin coughed into his mask. One eye squinted up at Kakashi through the blood running down his forehead.

"A Puddle. On a clear day when it hasn't rained in weeks? He said condescendingly.

"In that case, why did you let the genin do the fighting?" Inquired Tazuna. The genin looked to Kakashi.

"I could have taken them out quickly, but then I would have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was. And, what they were after." He said, side eyeing Tazuna.

"HM? What are you getting at?" Said Tazuna defensively.

"You're withholding information from us!" Sakura shouted suddenly, right in Haruhi's ear. They all turned to look at Sakura.

"Good job, Sakura." Kakashi ruffled her hair. "I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or, if they were after you, the master bridge builder. When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection. From robbers and highwaymen. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you. Hunting you down. If we knew this, it would be a B-ranked mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. "

He narrowed his eye.

"If we knew we would fending attacks from enemy ninja we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B-rank mission. Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission." He said with finality.

But that speech was kinda hot she wasn't gonna lie.

Sakura pitched in, agreeing with Kakashi. She raised some good points of her own, like the fact Naruto was injuredand they were unprepared. Haruhi was proud Sakura was voicing her opinions.

"Hey, wait. What else aren't you saying?" Haruhi couldn't resist. She aimed her question at Tazuna. Tazuna didn't respond at first, rattled by Kakashi's speech and her mere presence.

"I'm sure he can tell us all about it when we get back to the village." Said Kakashi, glancing at Haruhi.

...What?

Naruto and Sasuke exploded with protests.

She didn't know how to feel. On one hand, the three kids would be spared the trauma of Zabuza and Haku's deaths. They would all turn around right now and head back to Konoha and Kakashi wouldn't get hurt. Tazuna would get proper protection, which would be way better with dealing with Gato with. His argument that he couldn't afford the B or A ranked mission falls flat too. He could get the bridge built and pay off his debt with the new trade, or the money taken from Gato, or both. And with her back in Konoha, she could go up to the Hokage with Kakashi and be sent home. They could get another C-ranked, a proper one this time, and develop that way. The chance that she could die was very real.

But on the other hand...

How long would it take? Would it be too late by the time another team was sent out? Who says Tazuna would even get another team instead of being thrown into T and I? Could she be selfish enough to damn an entire country? And then there was the Genin. They all learned lessons and developed from this. Sakura learned about her outstanding Chakra control-crucial for career as a medic. Naruto learned the value of his precious people, a theme that would be repeated throughout both series. And Sasuke risks his life for Naruto and develops the Sharingan.

In the end, none of the genin actually gets permanently injured(excluding mental trauma), and the Land Waves is saved.

Her brow furrowed as she weighed their options.

The entire point of her wanting to go back to Konoha right now was so that she wouldn't change anything. But going back right now would be changing something-they wouldn't being going on this mission-a crucial plot point. The Land of Waves arc is pivotal to the plot and if it doesn't happen the Akatsuki isn't going to wait for Naruto to play catch up.

It was too late to try not to affect the plot, not when she had already been living with Kakashi for weeks and her obvious emotional impact on team seven as a whole. But it seemed Kakashi had already decided for them.

"AAARRGGHH!" Naruto stabbed himself in the hand, blood flying out in a splash. Everyone gasped.

"WHY AM I SO DIFFERENT?!" Naruto ground out, his mental crisis continuing. "Why am I always arrhh-!"

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, stepping forward. But Haruhi put her hand down on Sakura's palm in a firm tap, stopping her. Naruto then launched into a monologue.

"I will never back down again, I'll never run away, and I'll never let someone else rescue me again..."

He ended with a blood oath. "Don't worry, I'll be fine!"

"...Naruto, that was, um, really cool how you took the poison out in all, but uh, if you lose anymore blood your going to die." Kakashi said rather stunned. Then in a bit of humor said "Good idea to stop the bleeding now. Seriously."

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled unsurprisingly. "You've got a self abusive personality. It's called masochism." Then surprisingly, she held out the hand Haruhi wasn't on." Here, I researched first-aid, let me look at it."

"That's nice, Sakura." Kakashi said almost hastily."But let me do it."

Sakura humphed, but stayed back. Haruhi kept her eye on the wound, and from this angle, wasn't surprised to see it closing.

Steam leaked from it and she hysterically thought of Attack on Titan, the only universe worse than this one. She couldn't see the look on Kakashi's face, but Naruto provided some useful commentary.

"Umm, uhh, you have a really serious look on your face, you're scaring me, am I okay?" Naruto trembled.

"Uh, yeah, you should be fine." He then started wrapping Naruto's hand.

"That's good then. If he's going to be fine, we can continue on." Haruhi said. Sasuke whipped around to stare at her, obviously surprised. Kakashi paused in wrapping Naruto's hand, before continuing slowly.

"It's too dangerous to continue." Kakashi articulated, only to be met with resistance by the three of them. Sakura kept silent, glancing rapidly to and from Sasuke.

Naruto and Sasuke kept shouting over each other, and Haruhi didn't bother trying to let herself be heard.

"Mh-hm, cause you two make such a convincing case." Kakashi said blandly, cutting in.

"Sakura, what are you thinking. Tell us what you really feel, not what you think we'd like to hear." Haruhi said quickly, capitalizing on the opportunity. Both boys were rendered speechless, but Kakashi simply raised an eyebrow and waited.

Sakura clenched her hand around the kunai, knuckles turning white. She bite her lip, glancing at Sasuke then glancing away just as quickly.

"Well, now that Naruto is better like Kakashi sensei said, and the fact we have a jounin on our side, there's no big reason not to continue onward. If we refuse the mission it will send out a signal that we are weak, _and I really want to get stronger_." The last part came out in a mortified whisper, and Sakura looked down at Haruhi in her hand. She made sure Sakura could see the proud smile on her face.

A deep sigh from Kakashi.

"Fine." Cheers drowned him out for a second. "We escort Tazuna back to his home, then decide whether to stay, or leave."

* * *

 **Land of Waves here we come! Haruhi is** **defiantly** **gonna have a time of it. While weighing her options Haruhi refers to the possibly upcoming events as "plotpoints" and "arcs". This tells us that Haruhi still hasn't grasped the reality of the situation, and despite coming to the realization that this isn't a dream, she still views this new life as an inconsequential story and the people as characters.**


	15. Clearing Mist

_In which Haruhi makes puns and Team Seven gets a wake up call._

* * *

It had took a bit more convincing to get Kakashi back on track.

The three genin in a panic had shoved Haruhi onto him, pleading in their respective ways to talk him down. Unlike how it was originally, Kakashi this time around seemed like he wasn't going to budge on his decision to go back to Konoha, even without Sakura's support.

So she fell back on humor.

"Kakashi, I'm not that big of a deal, really! Don't let little old me stop you! I'll be quiet as a mouse! C'mon, don't be a lightweight!" She half-joked, pressing him on.

He reluctantly snorted in amusement, before catching himself and crossing his arms. Sasuke smirked, and Naruto and Sakura giggled. Tazuna stayed carefully neutral as his life depended on whether or not she could sway Kakashi.

That combined with earlier protests from Naruto had tipped him over the edge. His head fell back in defeat. They gathered their things, on higher alert than last time. They walked in silence as the mist grew thicker and thicker, signifying a large body of water was near. Strangely enough, some of the tension left her as the sun became blocked out, photons scattered by the mist. The crunch of wet gravel was strangely reassuring, even when that transitioned over to the near smooth silence of the moss on the seaside rocks.

With the harsh glare of the sun out of her face, she felt better.

Tazuna let out a low whistle that echoed across the water. Her ears strained when she heard a responding one, and a figure on a boat glided over. She was giddy in excitement. She had lived in the great lakes region, and large bodies of water were just a part of her life. It was almost like she was home again-except for the smell of salt.

They boarded the boat with little fanfare, Haruhi hiding again in Sakura's bag. Kakashi was already upset Tazuna had found out about her existence, no need for the farrier to find out. The water was a bit choppy-signifying a coming storm. They all sat criss-cross applesauce.

"This fog's so thick, you can't see anything." Sakura whispered.

"I know." Haruhi sighed happily.

"You're so weird." Sasuke scoffed at her.

"Well, you don't like sunshine that much either, emu." She said faintly.

Naruto exploded in laughter.

"Sakura, punch him." Haruhi hissed. Cracking her knuckles, she did just that.

"HEY!" Naruto screeched, the punch having the opposite effect of what she intended.

"Keep it down, there's reason why were being silent! Cutting the engine and moving through the dense fog-so they don't see us!" The man snapped.

"…"

"...The bridge isn't far now, our destination is just ahead. The land of Waves."

Tall dark shadows appeared from the mist like the legs of giants. Despite being shrouded, the bridge was truly impressive. It arched out of the water and out of view, and seemed to be holding the mist at bay. It ended abruptly like a cliff, and various construction vehicles were scattered along it.

"Mr Tazuna, before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something." A moment of tense silence. "I men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore." Kakashi said.

Everyone was watching Tazuna attentively.

He opened his mouth and spoke. "I want to let you know. As you said, this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man, who casts a very long and deadly shadow."

Very nice usage of literary devices. She could respect that.

"A deadly shadow?" He asked, fake politeness lacing his voice." Hm, who is it?" She wasn't fooled, Kakashi was very interested.

"You know him, or I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world, the shipping magnet Gato!"

"Huh! Gato? Of Gato transport!? He's a business leader, everyone knows him!" Kakashi said, rattled.

Naruto leaned forward excited.

"Who who!? What what?!"

"Gato, is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true, but below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations he sells drugs and contraband. Using gangs and ninja."

Is was deathly silent.

"It was one year ago when Gato first set his sight on the land of waves he came to our island and used his vast wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simple...disappeared. In an island nation a man who controls the sea controls everything! Finance, government, our very lives! But there's one thing he fears, The bridge! When it is complete it will join us to the land and that will break his control."

He looked up.

"I, am the bridge builder."

It was silent for a moment, before Sakura and Sasuke summed up what happen, connecting the dots with the nin in the forest.

"I don't understand, if you knew he was dangerous, knew he would send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?

"...Because the land of waves, is a small, impoverished, nation. Even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for a A or B-ranked mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me before I reach home. " He intoned.

Then his voice changed and she choked on her muffled laughter.

"Grandad granddad! I want my granddad!" He whisper shouted in a high pitch voice. Everyone sweat dropped.

"Oh and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the hidden leaves denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and blaming you for a life of sorrow!"

Naruto and Sakura whimpered, and Sasuke looked a bit sick. Uh, not her kids! While she may not have cared for Sasuke very much, she definitely didn't approve of Tazuna's guilt trip.

"We get it! No need for this cheese, old man!" She hissed.

Kakashi scratched his leaf symbol.

"Well...I guess we have no other choice!" He said

"When you said we were going on a trip, I didn't think it would be a guilt one." Haruhi quipped. Everyone agreed.

"Ahh, I'm very grateful!" He said cheerfully, throwing a peace sign over his shoulder. Haruhi couldn't help but grin in amusement, before frowning.

"Then this won't be the last of it then. The next people Gato sends will be more powerful." Haruhi cautioned. The pre-teens needed to know what would happen. The atmosphere became serious and the lightheartedness from Tazuna's little display disappeared.

As if emerging from some dream, they crossed under the bridge, and left the heavy mist behind. Then they saw the land hidden in the waves. Shallow water trees were rooted in the sea and houses on stilts were a few ways off the shore. Everything was bathed in sunlight, giving it the illusion of being a happy place. Seagulls, something she hadn't heard in ages, called from all around.

She inhaled the scent happily, listening to the sound of the flying rats with glee she never would of thought she'd have for them. A memory of her and her family on the beach crossed her mind, her and her little cousin throwing pretzels at the gulls causing a smile to spread across her face.

They drifted up to a wooden pier and one-by-one they jumped off, Sakura scooping her up.

"That's as far as I go, good luck!" The farrier said.

Tazuna thanked him, and he pulled his motor for the first time and left.

"Okay! Take me to my home, and I mean get me there in one piece!"

They started down another path, Tazuna and Kakashi in the rear, her and the genin upfront. Sasuke increased his pace, now toe-to-toe with Naruto. Naruto growled and sped ahead.

"Naruto! Get back here!" Haruhi called.

"Not gonna let Sasuke-teme beat me again! I'm gonna be alert Haruhi-sensei!" He growled, whipping out a kunai and looking back and forth. Kakashi and everyone else had stopped and just watched the spectacle.

"Over there!" He hurled a kunai into the bushes, siphoning off leaves.

"Huh?!" Said everyone. A beat of intense silence where everyone started at the bushes.

"Oh, just a mouse." He said casually. Tazuna growled in anger, and Sakura started yelling how fake he was. Kakashi, very stressed at this point, lectured that kunai were dangerous.

"STOP TRYING TO SCARE ME YOU SCRUMPY LITTLE DWARF!" Tazuna bellowed. Naruto shrugged it off and dramatically started scanning the bushes. Then he threw another kunai. Sakura's bag was now of sweltering proportions.

Sakura whacked him over the head then got into an argument with Naruto. But Haruhi's eyes were on Kakashi. He walked over to the bushes where his kunai had thunked into the tree trunk, separating the leaves. She was struck with a sense of deja vu, back at the bell test. Through the leaves she could see a twitching white rabbit and a kunai inches over its head.

Haruhi frowned.

A white rabbit, near the beginning of summer? It was part of a rabbits evolution to shed it's white fur for brown for the summer, part of a survival thing that she had read up in a nature book. White for blending in with snow, brown for dirt and branches So a white rabbit was weird. Sakura walked closer and got a good like at the traumatized creature.

"Naruto! Look what you did!"

"Ah! A rabbit!" He screamed, horrified. He ran forward and hugged it, as if that could erase the past few minutes. Everyone gathered around to watch the scene, except Kakashi who was eyeing their surroundings suspiciously. Her eyes followed his and a tingle of foreboding shot down to her toes. Trying to shake it off, she asked Sasuke;

"Hey Sasuke, would you like to hold the rabbit?"

"And become flea bitten like Naruto? No thanks."

But it didn't help. Kakashi turned and scanned the treeline, eyeing the rays of sunshine passing through, and the dark upper branches.

"Look out!" Kakashi shouted.

Like a helicopter the giant blade streaked toward them. Throwing themselves to the ground, it soared over head harmlessly, gouging a tree trunk. She coughed, the bag breaking her fall. She shivered as she lifted the heavy bag above her, energy flooding her limbs in order for her to lift the bag-something she shouldn't have been able to do.

She shakily rose from the bag, which Sakura was now clutching to her chest.

A man, Zabuza, she remembered, stood on the thick handle of the sword, some thirty feet up.

Sakura plunged her hand in the bag, and took out a kunai from another pouch to Haruhi's left.

"Well well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja from the village hidden in the mist." Naruto tensed up and clenched his kunai, rocking impatiently on the balls of his feet, looking as if he would lunge forward.

"Hold Naruto back." She hissed up at Sakura, hiding in her bag. Sakura's hand darted out and grabbed Naruto's shoulder, but before he could yell the fierce glare on her face shut him up.

"Everyone, stay back. He's not like those other ninja. He's in a whole other league." Kakashi warned. "If he's our opponent, I'll need this..."

And oh my god, it was happening. The Sharingan. Kakashi's hand drifted upwards, every eye in the clearing on him. She clenched the strap. She had only seen it once, when he had his panic attack in the kitchen late at night. But she hadn't seen it since then. The copy wheel was something to be afraid of; it was frightening to stare into it. Plus the fact that none of the genin knew about it, especially Sasuke.

Her heart beat rapidly, and her limbs trembled with the force of her grip. She was suddenly overcome with the urge to jump as hard as she could and run. She was strangely sure she could get away. Weeks of almost constantly being carried left her feeling bottled up and about to explode with foreign energy.

The genin fixed Kakashi with an intense gaze, under the impression he was going to take of his mask.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan eye, did I get that right?"

Sasuke gasped, stress lines appearing under his eyes.

"It's too bad, huh? But you'll have to hand over the old man." He rasped out again.

Kakashi glared harder, never taking his eye off the ball.

"Now quick manji formation! Protect the bridge-builder. And stay out of this fight! I taught you teamwork, now it's time to use it."

He lifted his headband and opened his eye.

"I'm ready!"

Everybody silently freaked, Naruto sweating before yelling in confusion.

"Everyone keeps saying Sharingan sharingan! Will someone please tell me what sharingan is!"

Sasuke spoke.

"Sharingan. A rare power. It resides in the eyes. The user of this visual jutsu can instantly see and comprehend any genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu. And reflect the attack back at the attacker. The sharingan is a special, rare, form of dojutsu. However, there's more to the sharingan than that. A lot more. " That had to be the most she had ever heard him speak, and she was impressed despite herself of his knowledge, even though it made sense for him to know so much.

Zabuza had maneuvered himself to face them on the narrow sword handle. "You got it right, boy. But you only scratched the surface. The sharingan can analyse a opponents technique, then execute it to the fullest detail. "

Mist spread over the road and trees, and instead of feeling comfortable it felt oppressive. She whimpered and ducked down further into Sakura's bag.

"As for you, jounin, the assassination unit in the village hidden in the mist we had a standing order to destroy you on sight. You're profile was in our bingo book. It called you 'The Man who Copied over a Thousand Jutsu'. Kakashi, the copy ninja."

The longer his raspy voice talked, the harder she shook. Her veins were filled with tension. Tears dribbled down her chin and she was glad the genin couldn't see her because they'd freak out.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Naruto shouted. No, it wasn't, but he'd find out soon enough. Meanwhile Sakura was reconsidering Kakashi and Sasuke was having a crisis. This was the first time she had seen the boy this rattled-including the bell test.

"Enough talk. I need to exterminate the old man. Now."

The genin darted in front of Tazuna, kunai's out and guarding him from all sides. Her blood roared in her ears and she blinked spots out of her eyes.

"He's over there!" Yelled Naruto

"Standing on the water!" Sakura said, louder.

Something was whirring, spinning past her as she stuck the top of her head out of the bag, making ripples in the water and pulling on her.

"Ninja art, hidden mist jutsu!"

Godgodgodgodgod, she couldn't even see the trees anymore.

"-He'll come after me first." Kakashi said darkly as he walked in front of them. She felt a stab of fear.

kakashi was going to get hurt, and it was all her fault. He was willing to turn them all around and back to Konoha for her but she talked him down. 'It was too late for regrets', she thought, hunkering down.

Kakashi launched into an explanation of Zabuza's background, and she felt her stomach drop with each detail. When he got to the silent killing technique, she felt Sakura shiver.

"Well, if we fail we only lose our lives..." Kakashi snarked sardonically.

"How could you say that!" Sakura gasped.

Kakashi vanished, swallowed by the mist. They were alone. She beat off a wave of panic, remembering him leaving her by herself on the counter.

"Eight points." A voice hissed from all around.

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now, which will be my kill point?"

Fuck her, that was some scary shit. She felt the tension ripple through the clearing. Killing intent. It was a solid delivery and if she had been a different person, she would have peed herself. Her teeth chattered like it was ten below with a wind chill off the lake.

A sudden blast of wind rocked the bag straps and then Kakashi was visible again, surrounded in an aura of blue chakra. She stopped trembling. A smile unwillingly crept up on her face and her grip on the leather strap loosened a bit. Kakashi would get through this. Nothing significant had changed so far.

To her left Sasuke raised his kunai with both hands in a motion like he was going to stab himself. Sweat dropped down his pale face. Before she could call out Kakashi looked back.

"Sasuke! Calm down. I'll protect you with my life." He looked at her, her eyes wide. "All of you." He smiled, the expression out of place in the tense atmosphere. "I will not allow my comrades to die! Trust me."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

Zabuza had apparently teleported directly into the middle of their circle. The scream caught in her throat and she flung herself to the bottom of the bag. She gritted her teeth as the bag with her inside lurched backwards from where Kakashi had flung them to safety. The world swayed as she righted herself and her crooked glasses, feeling the gravel through the cloth. She peeked out.

Kakashi held a kunai stuck inside Zabuza, as she looked on wards she noticed the waterfall coming out from the stomach wound. A water clone.

"Sensei behind you!" Naruto shouted.

Kakashi turned wide eyed, before being slashed in half by a giant sword. He fell apart in ropes of water. Kakashi had copied Zabuza with his Sharingan. 'Zabuza was gonna get it, Kakashi was pretty good!' She thought with giddy relief.

"Don't move." A kunai was held to the other Zabuza's throat. She knew Kakashi had survived the fight, but she could have sworn there was more to the fight than this. Something about being trapped in water...? But it was obvious Kakashi had the upper hand.

"Now, it's over." Kakashi said in a low voice that sent a rush of warmth through her. It would be okay. She unclenched her fist, but it was still shaking. Similarly the genin gave various noises of approval.

Until Zabuza started laughing, arm limply holding his giant sword. Kakashi pressed the kunai closer to his neck.

"Finished?" Zabuza said in a voice coated in humor and poison." You really don't get it, do you? Your technique is nothing but a crass imitation."

"Kakashi it's another water clone!" Haruhi screamed in panic from Sakura's bag.

Kakashi slashed his knife across it's throat and a waterfall erupted from the water clones severed throat.

A growl erupted from the mist and Kakashi just barely dodged the sword cleaving towards him. A donkey kick from Zabuza then had him sailing through the air. He disappeared with the shirtless man in pursuit, who jumped head first into the water.

Kakashi rose from the lake, hair dripping and heavy.

"Fool! Water prison jutsu!"

And then Kakashi was encased in a ball of vibrant water.

"This prison is made of water, but it's stronger than steel. It's hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi."

A rush of anger flooded her. He was just trying to lead Zabuza away from the genin. While having Kakashi taking down like this wasn't comforting, It was reassuring what she said hadn't mattered though, it meant she hadn't changed anything.

"I'll finish you off later. But first, your little friends will have to be eliminated." He growled. "Water clone jutsu!"

When the second Zabuza emerged from the water, her limbs trembled like trees being buffeted in a thunderstorm. The same rush as before flooded her. She could only hope things went like in canon, or she might accidentally be killed.

But something bothered her. Logically speaking, it made no sense for Zabuza to hold Kakashi in prison. He could have just killed him right away.

"You three, stay together! Don't rush him. Don't panic. Like Kakashi said during the bell test, if you three work together there may be a chance of taking him out!" Haruhi hissed up at the three genin so that Zabuza wouldn't hear. The genin gulped, grouping together.

"-When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't faze you-"

"He can't make more than one at a time, it seems. The prison takes a lot of Chakra to maintain. If we can get around the clone to the vulnerable Zabuza and free Kakashi, we have a chance." She whispered frantically. The three nodded, their hands trembling.

"-But to call upstarts like you ninja, is a joke." The mist got heavier, and she felt Naruto losing it. In a series of movements that she wouldn't have been able to follow otherwise, the clone's knee connected with Naruto's jaw, sending him flying and knocking his headband off.

"Listen! Get the bridge builder and run!" Kakashi's voice wavered from the water.

" You can't win this fight! He's using all his power to keep me in this prison so he can only fight you with his water clone, but the clone can't go far from his real body. If you get away from him he can't follow. Now run!"

He seemed to be staring right at her, and for a fleeting second she almost caved and told the genin to run. She knew what this meant to him. He had failed his team. Again. And if they died because another one of his mistakes it would crush the man. But the notion that they could escape was a desperate one, they either stood their ground here or they would be hunted down like that rabbit.

Sasuke came up with the same conclusion and his eyes darted to her before training on Zabuza, who was still standing on Naruto's leaf symbol. He gritted his teeth launching himself forward, hurtling shuriken. Her heart lurched in her chest, concern lighting her on fire.

"AH!" Sasuke darted to the side, picking up Naruto then jumping back to her and Sakura, panting. He landed in a crouch, before standing up and glaring at Zabuza.

"We need to come up with a plan." Sakura hissed at both of them. "A distraction."

"Naruto no!" Kakashi yelled in horror. Naruto darted forward and her heart caught in her throat. Sakura clenched the kunai with one hand, and held Haruhi in the bag with the other, desperate for reassurance. Haruhi couldn't breathe and Naruto's shouting abruptly stopped with a choked gasped. She was trembling again, spots in front of her vision with a head-rush.

She peered out. Naruto was in a crouch, clutching his headband. He would be alright. He healed from the wound earlier after all. She heard Sasuke and Sakura whispering behind her.

"-His name is Naruto Uzumaki!"

He jumped back, a few feet away from them."Sasuke, can you hear me?" A nod." So you're finally thinking about teamwork, huh?" Sakura's grip on her had lessened and she could wiggle around now. She was staring transfixed on the two, a blush coating her face.

"Sakura," Haruhi whispered." While they make a plan go guard Tazuna."

Sakura lifted her kunai, jumping in front of Tazuna.

"-When I was your age, this hand had already crushed many opponents."

"Zabuza, the demon." Kakashi stated.

"Oh, so I was in your book too, huh?"

"Long ago in the village hidden in the mist, also known as blood mist village, before a student could become a ninja there was one final test. "

"Do you know about the graduation exam?" Zabuza laughed.

"What's the big deal?!" Naruto shouted." We had a graduation exam too!"

"Did you have to kill the other students to pass?"Zabuza asked.

Oh fuck, fuck that.

"Imagine young ninja like you, eating together, training together, and then comes the final exam, only they've changed the rules. Kill, or be killed!" The three where shocked into stillness."He was your friend shared your dreams! Now it's him or you."

"T-that's so cruel." Sakura clutched her kunai.

"Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a ninja approached the class and took down over a hundred other students " Kakashi finished.

"…"

"It... it felt so...good!" Zabuza's eyes snapped open.

Yikes! Yikes. The urge to jump into the trees and hide was becoming stronger and she was so close to losing her shit, her head throbbed with energy.

"Ah!" A knee to Sasuke's gut sent him flying and then an elbow to the stomach had blood flying from his mouth.

She and Kakashi exchanged desperate looks, and the guilt crashed over her. A ringing in her ears blocked out all sound as Sasuke was crushed underfoot.

"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" When Zabuza threw off the dozens of clones, one skidded away, searching through it's bag.

"You're not the only one who can use clones." Naruto growled.

"Sasuke!" Naruto threw a folded up Shuriken to Sasuke, who caught it and spun. But there was just one problem.

Zabuza wasn't in the clearing.

"Sasu-ACK!"

The clone reappeared in front of Sakura, grabbing her by the throat. Through a bandaged mouth, he mused.

"I know it was you, the girl of the group who warned Kakashi. I've heard you muttering to the others. You, are a liability."

A icy hand of guilt and horror grabbed her heart as Zabuza raised his sword. Sasuke yelled in horror. But Haruhi didn't hear it.

With energy that had been building up for weeks, she darted into Sakura's weapons pouch unthinkingly, pulling out a shuriken almost as big as her.

"What tha-" She jumped straight from the bag to Zabuza's neck, chakra propelling her right into the clone's jugular.

With a scream, Haruhi dragged the sharp metal across it's throat.

* * *

 **I know some of you may be confused so let me explain. After spending weeks in Naruto when she was only supposed to be there for a few hours tops, it has effected her body. When she first came here, it was with borrowed chakra from the seal, which was how she survived the transportation. She has no chakra of her own, which is why the seal's is now being incorporated into her body. Shes developing a system and all and it's changing her anatomy. Everything is saturated in Chakra and she is absorbing some of it as the chakra from the seal as it fades. This will be very important to the plot later.**

 **Over the recent few chapters and this one especially, you may have noticed signs of her getting stronger, or being able to do things she wasn't able to do before.**


	16. Reflection

_In which_ _recuperation_ _and strategies are to be had._

* * *

The clone fell apart like a well thrown water balloon.

Sakura fell limply back to the ground, landing with a dull thud. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing hoarsely. Haruhi landed with a gasp on her stomach.

"THROW IT!" She screamed at Sasuke. Sasuke who was still staring at Sakura in shock, snapped out of it and threw it across the clearing, directly at Zabuza. He was still in shock from his clone being destroyed by a few inch tall woman and barely dodged, this time lacking a witty comeback.

Kakashi didn't react at all, horrified eyes on the two female members of team seven. Then the second Shuriken hidden under hit, right in Zabuza's shoulder.

He screamed in pain and a puff of smoke obscured him. Kakashi fell onto the water and in a movement to quick to follow, pulled the real Naruto away from the demon. Blood was on his orange jacket and her heart leapt into her throat before she realized it was Zabuza's. Naruto's kunai was covered in blood from where he had launched it into the demon's shoulder.

Zabuza jumped back, bleeding heavily and panting, watching the wrathful Kakashi like a cornered animal.

Sasuke ran over to Sakura and her, the Naruto clone long since poofing out of existence. He dropped into a crouch and his hands hovered unsure, never having actually picked up Haruhi or helped Sakura before. He helped Sakura up and Haruhi was lifted by a stunned Tazuna. He held her as if she was made of glass, delicate and could cut you if broken.

Naruto swam back to shore, and Kakashi was beating Zabuza so bad it wasn't even a competition. He got beat down in canon, here, he was getting slaughtered. She quickly scanned the treeline for Haku.

"Q-quickly, Zabuza might have an accomplice like the two others had each other. Stand guard!" The three shakily went in formation, eyes drifting back to the massacre. Bleeding heavily from multiple wounds from his shoulder, Zabuza swayed from blood loss. His eyes were tinged with desperation as Kakashi went in for the kill.

And then she heard chirping.

Chidori.

Kakashi was warming up, having immobilized Zabuza.

"STOP!"

Sasuke whipped around, just in time to stop Tazuna from being taken hostage. But too late for her.

An elegant hand clenched around her, and a giant needle was being pressed against her collarbone. Kakashi's chidori fizzled out of existence. So did Zabuza, escaping through the trees with a frantic dash.

The genin and Kakashi surrounded Haku from all sides. He was trapped.

"Zabuza could have easily killed Kakashi, and you could have taken out the genin while they were distracted. What are you playing at? Why didn't you carry out Gato's order to the fullest and get the job done as soon as possible? Are you playing him or is he playing you?" She whispered.

The fist spasmed around her, and the shouts of outrage were deafening. Although exhausted, Kakashi fist was gripping the Kunai. His sharingan swirled. Haku knew he wouldn't be getting out of this alive with the three genin, much less Kakashi, and Zabuza wouldn't be able to save him in his condition. Haku would rather die than betray Zabuza.

She was the only thing keeping him alive, but Haku didn't care about his life.

With a scream, she burned Haku's hand with whatever chakra she had left, causing him to drop her in pain and surprise.

Kakashi jumped sideways for her, barely catching her before she hit the stone. The last thing she saw was his panicked expression, and a fleeing Haku.

* * *

...

...Voices hummed in the background. Some hysterical, all strained.

"Kakas-...-what wil..hh! Is there any-ohmy...Haruh-!" She fell back asleep to ignore the static.

Flashes of light made her eyes hurt and confused her. She closed them tighter.

Her back hurt and sensations like a thousand tiny bugs prickled all along her body. So she fell back asleep.

When she woke up for the fourth time, it was with a gasp and an abrupt jolt upwards. This wasn't her matchbox bed! And where was her warm cat curled up at the base of her bed and keeping her toes warm? She cracked her eyes open to a dim room.

It was barren and mostly empty, the only items being a picture on the wall and the pillow she was on. The sound of slow even breathing captured her attention-it sure wasn't her's. She painstakingly turned over to the other side and blinked at the sleeping figure of Naruto. And Sakura. And Sasuke. They were all sleeping on a spread out mat, obvious eye bags adorning their faces.

She looked down at herself. She had come on this trip with nothing but the clothes on her back and her glasses, so she wasn't surprised to see herself only in her boxers and a bra. She had been wrapped in a wash cloth, various parts of her body covered in bandages. Every bit of her ached and if she tilted her head just right, she could see a giant bruise and a gash from where the senbon had been pressed to her shoulder.

"You gave us all quite a scare." A relieved voice said.

She turned as quickly as she could, coming face to face with Kakashi. Inches away.

"I thought you stopped that."

"Maa, it's making a comeback."

His breath fanned over her in a sigh, and his eyes trailed up and down her body-checking her injuries. She did the same.

Kakashi was in better shape then he was in canon and her heart stilled as the thought crossed her mind. He wasn't wrapped in nearly as much bandages and was clearly walking on his own without the support of crutches. The way he cautiously moved dictated some soreness, but he wasn't bedridden.

"You're suffering from chakra exhaustion and a puncture wound." The previous emotion was erased, the blush gone.

"It's not like I wanted to."

He stared blankly before sighing again. He seemed to do that a lot. But their chatter had another sided effect.

"-WERE SO GL-GLAD YOU'RE ALRIGHT AND YOU WERE LIMP AND NO-NOT MOVING, AND AND REALLY PALE!" Naruto desperately tried to stifle sobs, biting his sleeve. She looked back up at Kakashi, whose face was covered by hair.

Sakura and Sasuke had shot up, eyes wide. Sakura immediately crawled over to Haruhi and with surprising confidence, started checking her over.

"I wasn't sure entirely what to do but I know cause I read it in the book, Haruhi-Sensei, that you need bed rest and can't do jutsu." Sakura blurted.

"What," She licked her lips." Made you a medic all of a sudden?"

Everyone looked on, wanting to know the answer. Sakura fidgeted, looking back and forth from her to Sasuke, who had his emo face on.

"I remembered how you said Naruto can't lose anymore brain cells and how we help our teammates, and well, I started thinking about how I could."

Oh. Okay then.

"She fixed me up too. "Kakashi said.

Naruto ran downstairs, blabbing something about getting food. Sakura ran after him, yelling about how he would poison Haruhi-sensei if he did. Sasuke twitched.

Kakashi smiled at her, touching her hand before getting up to leave her alone-with Sasuke. She stared at him, and he resolutely looked everywhere but her. They sat in a tense silence for a bit, Haruhi waiting for him to crack. He mumbled under his breath.

"What?"

"...Sorry." He ground out, teeth clenched.

!

The great Sasuke Uchiha, apologizing! For what?

"Um, what for?" A muscle jumped in his jaw.

"...For not protecting you. I let the missing-nin get you." Oh! He was talking about Haku grabbing her from Tazuna. Sasuke's hair was in his face and she couldn't see his expression.

"It's okay, really! That nin seemed to be at least chunin level." She laughed, relieved it wasn't something else. Sasuke untensed, looking almost hopefully at her before catching himself, grunting, and walking away with one last glance over his shoulder. And for all his drawbacks, Haruhi was reminded he was still a child.

Would he be after this mission?

Now left completely alone, she wondered just how long she had been asleep. The bandage over her shoulder had a bit of dried blood, so it only recently stopped bleeding. So maybe a day, two max.

Zabuza was injured worse this time around, and Haku's cover was blown, so they would probably take more time to recover. Team seven had the advantage. She didn't have to wait long, as Naruto and Sakura came back, with more food then she could possibly eat.

Fish,(yuck) fruit that was slighted wilted, and rice. She didn't want to eat up here, so she wrapped herself in the washcloth and asked Sakura to carry her down. Unable to resist, Sakura picked her up.

Kakashi, Sasuke, Tazuna, and Tazuna's daughter were there. She supposed Inari went to bed or something, which she was happy about as she remembered him being a whiny piss-baby.

She had to hide because of Tazuna's daughter.

007 style, she glided over the table when the daughter was washing dishes(much to the genin's and Tazuna's amusement) and crawled into Kakashi's pocket, the man with a perfect poker face. It was a struggle to get the washcloth in with her, she she just threw it on the table, a scandalized gasp leaving Sakura, and Naruto making kissy faces.

"Déjà vu, huh?" She said.

Sasuke choked on his rice.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Kakashi eye smiled. At this angle, if she poked her head out she would be hidden. So she stuck it out and nibble on a rice piece the size of her finger. It was hella good. She noticed the side glances and well she new she wasn't something you see everyday. But this was different. It was as if all of them were sizing her up, rethinking her, and she wasn't sure she liked it.

Well slitting Zabuza Momochi's throat, even if it was a clone (and only because he didn't know she was there), then escaping another Nin was something else.

But something had irrevocably changed with those actions.

What would happen now?


	17. Let's Get Down to Business

_In which there is training and Pep talks to be had._

* * *

Training.

For the genin at least. She was on strict bed rest. Which again, gave her a lot of time to think.

That she, Hamster Haruhi, defeated someone Kakashi originally couldn't.

She took out an S and B-ranked nin respectively. Abit on accident and by chance, because she had no idea she could do that until she did it. She was going to rub this in Kakashi's face up until she got back home.

The problem was he wasn't even here. As she said, he wasn't as injured as he was in canon, so he went along with the three genin to train and guard Tazuna. She wasn't worried about him sending anyone else, as Zabuza was about the best you could get. The point was, there was no reason for her to be cooped up here! And maybe she was lonely. Naruto had left a shadow clone to guard the house and well, Naruto by himself wasn't the most observant. Getting around one clone should be easy enough.

She steadily sat up, taking the washcloth with her. She wrapped herself in it and was gratified to find the beige cloth matched the woodwork. She padded down the hall before stopping in a dead halt.

How was she supposed to find them?

"Haruhi-Sensei! You need to go to sleep!" One of the clones shouted. She jumped and hid her wince, not knowing there was two. The clone was hovering, wanting to help but nervous to touch her.

"But Naruto, I need to get to Kakashi, he has something I need. Can you take me to them?" She asked kindly. The Naruto clone blushed, looking on in shock. Before slowly slipping his hands around the cloth.

Naruto had grown on her, but sometimes he was just too damn easy to manipulate.

He carried her awkwardly in both hands, not sure whether to keep her close of far away, and settled for the middle ground.

"He took us out to the forest. For training!" He blurted.

"Ah. Leave a clone here." He carried her over the muddy ground, and she was suddenly relieved he caught her.

"...That was really cool, but scary too." He mumbled, surprisingly quiet for once.

"With Zabuza?"

"Yeah..."

"I didn't mean to scare you guys, sorry."

"It's fine, but-" He cut himself off, giggling." -But none of us were as scared as Kakashi."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Yeah! He...was really upset, Haruhi-sensei! He almost left us behind, and after he caught you he refused to let you go until Sakura said she could help"

Well it was good to know Sakura was the one who changed her. But the guilty feeling was back.

"He did a weird thing, and made his chakra green. Sakura said it was his medical chakra. " He offered.

"Well, I'm glad everyone turned out okay."

"Yeah!"

Thunking sounds could be heard, and the pants as Sasuke and the real Naruto tried to catch their breaths. As the clone stepped into the clearing, the two paused in surprise.

"What are you doing here!?" They both shouted.

"Stop yelling at Haruhi-sensei! She needs to get to Kakashi-sensei!" The clone bellowed. She clapped her hands over her ears, washcloth slipping. After pointing the clone towards the right direction, the boys threw themselves into tree climbing, throwing looks at her to see if she was watching. She clapped and smiled, before telling the clone to head towards the bridge.

Is was misty and she felt a chill crawl up her spine. When she had woken up this morning, her entire torso was covered in bruises vaguely shaped like fingers. Maybe she should have stayed back there at Tazuna's house.

But she could see the sunlight through the thinning trees, and distant sounds of working people reached them. She lifted the washcloth over her head, making it seem like he was carrying just a cloth. They weaved their way through workers, machinery, and supplies.

Until-

"Naruto!" She heard Sakura hiss "What are you doing here with Haruhi?!"

"It doesn't matter. Sakura and Naruto stay here and guard Tazuna. I'll take her back." Looks like they found Kakashi.

While she couldn't see she felt herself being shifted and handed over. The stride lengthened and she knew they were out of range from other people when Kakashi spoke.

"Are you alright?" He asked, lifting the cloth over from her head. She clutched it to her chest so she would be covered and tried not to blush at his concern.

His pace had slowed considerably since the bridge, and he lifted her to eye level, eye zeroing in on her bruised leg that was sticking out.

"I'm fine. Just wanted to talk to you." Was it just her, or did he appear to be a bit nervous at that?

"Yes?" And then suddenly the cat got her tongue. She forgot what she wanted to say.

"W-well, I um, that Gato man won't just give up, will he? And are you better?" She stuttered. His expression turned serious, eye narrowed in thought. She blushed and averted her gaze onto the dirt path. His pace had slowed to a crawl until he had stopped completely.

"Gato and his men will be back. And we'll be ready for them." He then smirked. "Haruhi, I didn't know you cared." He crooned, laughing.

"Shut up, Shittake! I save your butt!" The laughter stopped abruptly, and he leveled her a considering look. Realizing what she said she tried to explain.

"I don't know how I did that, It's just that I was so scared, and just suddenly I could."

"Well, you are a summon, it makes sense you are able to control chakra like that." Under his breath he added "An A-ranked nin.."

"Yeah. But it's got me thinking, Kakashi. As soon as we get back to Konoha, we should go to the Hokage. I only won that because they weren't expecting me. It's dangerous! Get him to unsummon me. You're great but it's probably time I head back."

Kakashi had started moving again and his pace faltered. He sighed.

"You're right. But we won't be back in Konoha for a few more weeks at least. And during that time you will be training too."

Wait, what?

She was gonna be a ninja!?

Oh boy...

* * *

Turns out, no, she was not going to be a ninja. Kakashi had taken her back to Tazuna's home, and somehow without her knowledge, Tsunami found out about her existence. She was coddled by the woman-not that she minded, and was even given new clothes she had sewn. With her being so small, it wasn't too hard to come-by the materials, that is. Tsunami brushed off her stuttered thanks, saying it was a hobby of hers to make clothing.

She had also become, uh, acquainted, with Inari.

The brat was still sulking in his room. She remembered their first meeting, and maybe it could have gone better.

"I don't believe it and nothings gonna be good!"

"Who are you!"

"Ah, Inari, where've you been!"

"Welcome back grandpa!"

"Inari that was very rude! These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him here safely!"

The boy looked out from under his fisher's hat, with a cold dead glare. He turned to his mother.

"Mom don't you see these people are gonna die! Gato and his men will come back and find them and wipe them out!"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY BRAT!" Naruto screeched. "Listen up you know what a super ninja is? Well that's me only a lot better. I'm gonna be hokage! This gato or blato or whatever is no match for a real hero like me!"

"Huh. There's no such thing as a hero." He looked up so his face could be seen. A smirk was on it." You're just full of stupid ideas!"

"…"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY!" Naruto ran forward in a rage and Sakura held him back.

"Jesus Sasuke this kid could give you a run for your money. " She said out loud. Loudly.

"…"

"W-what was that?!" The kid-Inari said.

"It's me, your conscious. We don't talk much anymore."

Inari turned and ran.

'Inari where are you going?"

"To look out at the ocean, I wanna be alone!" A door could be heard loudly slamming shut.

* * *

Defiantly could have gone better. But after a bit more bed rest and Sakura's help, her bruises and the soreness had faded. Naruto and Sasuke would come into the room after Sakura left to get something and each would try to one-up the other.

"Well, I went higher on the tree! Just look at my markings, it's a half-inch higher than yours!"

"Dobe, you wish. Your kunai is just thick-like you."

She choked on her food, and Sasuke sent a smug smirk to Naruto. That was pretty good. Kakashi was done recuperating, back at full health. Currently he was sitting in the corner and reading his trusty porn.

She couldn't say the same for Zabuza and Haku though, they definitely had an edge over them.

Sakura came back and both boys sprung apart. Last night they had started throwing punches and Sakura had walloped both of them across the head before Kakashi could lift a finger. She then fretted over Haruhi.

Naruto whined but Sasuke looked a bit put out-having believed Sakura wouldn't hurt him. She later brought this up with Kakashi when he had sent all the kids away.

"Sakura seems to have changed since the bell test. She doesn't play favorites as much." Haruhi stated.

"Well, having another female to look, uh, up to helps a lot. " She kicked his hand, trying to hide the uncomfortable feeling welling up inside her. How else were they different because of her?

And then Sakura and Kakashi cleared her for movement. She was deemed able to exercise and move about, most of the bruises healing and the cut on her shoulder considerably better.

Kakashi giggled, before it turned into menacing laughter. "Shittake, was it?"

"Uh, I'm sorry?!" She squeaked.

As it was the most necessary for her to get her chakra under control, she would start with tree climbing. He had shown her the hands signs while she was still recovering, and she picked it up with some trouble. But putting a bucket of water under her every time she fell was maybe going a bit to far. He was just lucky she knew how to swim! And yeah, she knew it was because if she fell that far she would get hurt but still!

He giggled again as she plunked into the water.

"You look like a drowned rat!"

"Kinda like how you did when Zabubu or whatever donkey kicked you into the lake!"

He was silent and she was about to crow in victory. Until he turned the bucked upside down.

"GET ME OUT OF THIS MUD!"

"No." Kakashi said petulantly.

Not to worry-training wasn't usually like that. At the end of the week and after much mud she was able to climb the tree eye level with Kakashi and hold it for a solid minute. She also practiced landing with chakra.

Could she talk about that for a minute? Chakra, that is?

Well she figured out why she had been feeling so weird for the past week. And what that weird feeling was when they were attacked by the demon brothers. Chakra. Over the weeks it must have slowly assimilated into her body. Every time she called upon it, it was like a kick in the ass, like she was hooked up to an IV drip full of 5-hour energy.

When she awkwardly twisted her fingers into hand-signs, she felt tugs behind her gut.

But one of the kids was always there to cheer her on. She kissed Naruto's cheek one time when he said something particularly sweet, and Kakashi shooed him away and pouted.

Teasingly she asked if he wanted another one, only for him to disappear in a shower of leaves that completely covered her.

At first they were all hesitant about the whole training to take down missing nin thing.

"Why was I able to stop Zabuza? Because you've all helped me. You've grown." Kakashi said.

And then Haruhi helpfully pitched in with the small detail of her taking down a clone and the other nin all by herself.

Even if it was a fluke.

It still helped moral though.

But make no mistake- they were working harder than she had ever seen before. Both of the boys had mastered tree climbing, and Sakura had even make huge steps in water-walking. Kakashi was going over what he knew with them with Zabuza, and speculating about Haku.

It was, in fact when she had worriedly went with Sasuke to check on him after he hadn't come back to the house that she realized he was talking with Haku.

By this time she had nagged at Sasuke the entire morning to hurry up. And while she was in no hurry to go anywhere with Sasuke, she couldn't help but worry about Naruto, the knucklehead. They were almost at the training clearing and still no sign of Haku along the path. Would Sasuke recognize him? Asking to slow down or turn back would look way too suspicious, especially since she was the one who wanted to get here as soon as possible.

Shit.

Sasuke walked silently, and she gripped the wide collar as he crouched into the bushes. Soft murmuring could be heard and she could just make out the bright orange of Naruto's jacket.

A piece of his hair-damn they should cut that-fell and partially blocked her vision.

She tossed it back over his head band and he leaned over a bit more.

"…"

"You can come out now."

!

She ducked back down behind Sasuke's neck, his hair and high collar hiding her. He stepped into the clearing.

"Behave!" She hissed as quietly as she could. She couldn't see much of anything from this angle, but she could hear.

"Sasuke! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, dobe. Whose this?" Sasuke said, barely masking his hostility.

"My name it Haku." Haku said in a voice that actually was very feminine. She could feel Sasuke sizing him up. Maybe he recognized the long hair?

"Yeah Sasuke! They're gathering herbs, their friend is sick!" She noticed the lack of gender pronouns.

"Why don't you sit with us?"

Sasuke sat down carefully and far away from the two. Naruto went back to talking like nothing happened. He told Haku about his dreams and motivations, and Sasuke perked up in interest.

"So are you doing it for this certain person? Or are you doing all this training for yourself?" Here they go. A cornerstone of the Naruto series about to be set.

"You see, when a person has something precious they want to protect, then they become genuinely strong."

There was a silence in the clearing, and she felt Sasuke become as still as stone. She wondered how Haku would affect him.

She heard rustling.

"Let's meet again sometime."

Silence. She could hear Naruto get up, but Sasuke surprisingly sat in place. He was frozen.

"Hey." She whispered, leaning back into sight. "It's something you can think about, but not now." He nodded slowly, lifting her out of his collar and getting up. It was a testament of the impact of Haku's words when Naruto didn't even argue he should be the one holding Haruhi.

"...It's like when Kakashi was freed from the prison and needed to protect us, he was able to take down Zabuza. Because he had something precious to protect." Sasuke spoke aloud.

"Yeah." Said Naruto.

"And it's like when you two had to protect me and Sakura. You two worked together and freed Kakashi. " Haruhi pointed out.

"Who was he?" Sasuke asked.

"You heard them. You'll probably find out."


	18. Getting Acquainted

_In which trips are taken and serious discussions are had._

* * *

She felt like she deserved a break from all her training. So she hitched a ride with Sakura to the bridge to guard Tazuna. Kakashi didn't want her doing anything more until they got back to Konoha.

"Be careful." Kakashi fretted.

"I always am!" Sakura beamed. On the walk there Sakura chatted away and Haruhi half-heartedly payed attention. It wasn't that was she said wasn't interesting, it was just the heavy sun made her lethargic.

Kakashi had become super productive lately, checking up on Haruhi whenever possible. She didn't know what to make of it.

Sakura sat on the end of the bridge and Haruhi was nearly lulled to sleep by the dinging of the hammers.

"I'm here because I finished before them!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Huh. You're joking!" Tazuna said.

Sakura growled.

"Taunza! Uh, I need to talk to you." A man said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Haruhi gave him the stink eye. How dare he interrupt her beauty sleep?

"Huh, what about?" Tazuna asked, butting down the steel bars.

"-I've pushed my luck far enough. I want out!" The man said.

Haruhi opened both of her eyes fully. What a coward. Didn't he realize how important this bridge was? She sneered, closing one eye and keeping the opened one trained on the man who wanted to abandon the project.

"Now you're going to quit on me just like that! You're kidding!" Tazuna yelled, more upset than she had ever seen him.

"Gato and his thugs will show up eventually, and when they do, they will kill you and the bridge won't get built anyway. "He sighed, "It's a lost cause Tazuna, why don't we stop while we can still get out of this alive?"

Sakura was watching in rapt attention. From this angle Haruhi could see her mouth drop open a little bit.

"No chance." He said steely. "This is our bridge. Our island is poor and it will stay that way until this bridge connects us to the mainland! Commerce, trade, and Hope! That's what we're building here." Tazuna shouted.

"There's not going to be much hope if were all dead."

A beat of silence.

"It's already noon. Let's break for lunch." Tazuna walked past him without looking back.

"Tazuna! lets not end it like this!"

"Save your breath. And don't bother coming back after lunch." And with that he walked away.

They ran to catch up, and when Haruhi voiced her thoughts on the deserter, calling him a coward, Tazuna snapped at her.

"Try putting yourself in his shoes, will ya! I'm not exactly happen with him either, but I understand where he's coming from!" Tazuna rasped, then took a swig of beer.

Haruhi sank down, a scowl and a blush coating her face.

Instead of chatting like she did before, Sakura was silent, with an out of character pensive look on her face. Haruhi tried grabbing her hand but couldn't reach. Haruhi thought of the events leading up to this.

They had gone to the bridge and left Naruto and Sasuke behind to train. It was pretty funny seeing the looks on the boys faces.

Naruto clenched his fist, glaring down the tree like it was Zabuza incarnate. Sasuke's gaze was lodged on Sakura in disbelief. The girl preened before her smile slipped when Sasuke didn't break face and continued to look on with point blank disbelief.

She lost her concentration and jumped down, smiling at Kakashi's words.

"Girl power!" Haruhi cheered, trying to lighten the atmosphere. It worked, as Sakura giggled and Naruto started one of his rants. Sasuke turned away, with no congratulations or acknowledgement besides an annoyed grunt.

Fuckin twerp.

But she saw how he clenched his fist, and the desperation to do better in the way he glared at the tree.

"Hey Sakura! Exactly how did you do that?" Haruhi asked as loudly as possible.

In a chatty mood, she launched into a detailed explanation, Sasuke's and Naruto's ears both tuned in.

Kakashi sent them to the bridge and Sakura tried to lift the mood by chatting and it worked! Until that worker put a wrecking ball through it.

They were walking down a dirt road, roof shingles falling off the houses, paint cracked and faded, water stains on the houses foundations. It was a far cry from Konoha. Or maybe it wasn't, cause the only places she went was with the genin on missions and Kakashi.

"Um, where are we going?" Sakura said over the guttural sounds of the motorboats.

"You wanna eat tonight don't ya? I gotta pick up some things for dinner." Haruhi nodded in understanding. She was glad she was so small now-she was easy to feed.

A man with sallow cheeks walked past with a sign she couldn't read. She assumed he was asking for food. People who stood on the side-streets had their heads bowed and refused to look anyone in the eye. Women held their malnourished children close. A prostitute was barely visible down one of the dark alleyways. Two young children sat defeated against the side of a falling apart building.

"Thief!" A voice cried out. A small boy ran in and out of the side streets. It rang strongly against the nearly silent buildings. And then she realized why she was so unnerved. She had never seen this many people, this silent.

"All these people...can't anyone help them?" Sakura asked looking around and taking in the slumped over forms.

"We are. Tazuna is." Haruhi replied.

"..."

They walked in silence for a bit more. Haruhi didn't like the eyes Sakura was getting. The people who did look up stared at her bag (the one she was in) greedily.

"Um, Sakura?" Haruhi tried calling. But she was way too lost in thought.

"Sak-AH!"

"What-HEY!"

With a roundhouse kick, Sakura knocked the man who grabbed her bag unconscious. People in the streets pointed and muttered as they hurried back to Tazuna.

"Huh. You really are a ninja. Girls around here don't fight like that." He sounded impressed despite himself.

Sakura said nothing, only nodding. They entered what could have been a grocery store. A man greeted them, but staring at the shriveled carrots only made her uncomfortable. Everything was meager. Tazuna was obviously one of the best customers as he got the royal treatment, the manager rolling out the red carpet. She guessed he had a lot of money stored away, because if he really was the only person to be able to build the bridge he must be really talented.

Sakura was silent walking back and Haruhi was getting worried about her.

A small hand reached up and tugged at Sakura's red dress-right by her butt.

"Hey buster-!"

A little boy with dirt on his face and hair spiked from grease smiled like a cherub. He cupped his hand.

"Please?" He giggled. His game was on point. He was using his cuteness to get food because he knew Sakura wasn't from around here. She didn't hold it against him-she did the exact same thing to Kakashi when she wanted something.

"...Hm, uhh...here." Sakura handed him some candies.

"Aw, thank you!" The kid looked at them like they were pure gold and ran away, clutching them to his chest. Sakura watched him go.

"Sakura, we should catch up to Tazuna. You can help them then." Haruhi called up softly.

They walked silently as they caught up with Tazuna.

"This is how it's been since Gato came here." Tazuna said, approaching from where Sakura was still turned. She wiped away tears.

"The children suffer and the adults are afraid to stand up to him. They've lost all hope, and that's why we have to finish the bridge. It will bring commerce and trade, but much more importantly, that bridge is a symbol of courage. We must restore the spirit of out people. When the bridge is finished...the people will start to believe again."

He clenched his fist.

"They will believe they can live with dignity. We can't let Gato stop us!"

Wow. Tazuna may not have been a ninja, but he was a man on a mission.

Sakura bowed her head. The walk back was quiet.

Tsunami was an excellent cook. A testimony to her skills was her turning what they brought back into a warm filling meal. Even though Tazuna could buy the best here, the best wasn't much. She still missed Kakashi's cooking though. Could go for some of that stir pot he always makes.

"It's been ages since we had so many guests around our table." Tsunami said.

Sasuke and Naruto were absolutely ravenous. It was like they had never eaten before.

"I want some more!" They both shouted in sync. They glared at each other across their chopsticks and bowls, breaking eye contact to only throw up.

Sakura didn't get up to yell at them which left it up to Haruhi. She decided to take a different route.

"Naruto! Sasuke!"

They looked up, wiping their mouths.

Haruhi was filled with white hot rage as she stared the two of them down. She remembered the little boy with ribs showing through his rag of a shirt and clenched her fists so hard red crescent moons appeared on her palm.

"You know how it is here! There are people and children starving on the streets, and less than enough food to go around and you two decide to engage in an eating contest and throw it up!? Do you two think this is a joke? Apologize to Tsunami for wasting her well cooked food and then to Tazuna for wrecking his house."

She exhaled sharply, turning away from them.

"Naruto, I expected better from you." He flinched. Turning to Kakashi, she said;

"I think the two boys should accompany Tazuna to the village next time he goes food shopping."

Kakashi put his bowl down.

"That sounds like a lovely idea." He agreed.

Everyone was kinda shocked into silence from her outburst. Haruhi was normally calm and not easily angered. But she had seen a lot today, stuff she only saw on the news was suddenly shoved in her face.

"...Hm, for such a little thing, you got a pair of lungs on ya." Tazuna resumed eating and the tension was broken.

They continued eating and everyone was just finishing up when Sakura walked up to one of the pictures on the wall.

Here we go.

"Excuse me, this picture is torn is there some reason for that?" She asked. "Inari you kept glancing at it all through dinner, it looks like there was someone else in the picture but they got torn out. I mean that's kinda strange isn't it?"

Jesus Sakura, amazing deductive skills but show some tact at least. She noticed Naruto's hand twitch. All activity halted.

"It's my husband." Tsunami said quietly.

"They used to call him a hero in this land." Tazuna spoke in a low and gravelly voice.

Inari pushed back his chair and started to leave.

"Inari where are you going?" Tsunami asked. Uh oh, family drama no thanks. She went after him but not before turning back to yell.

"Father, you can't talk about him in front of Inari, you know that!" She slammed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know, Inari..." Sakura stuttered.

"Is there a story behind this?" Kakashi asked.

"He wasn't his real father, he came into our family later. And he brought so much happiness. He and Inari were very close." Naruto gasped in realization.

"In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time. But then-!"

"Hm?" Kakashi said.

A tear dropped onto the table.

"All that ended. He never laughs or smiles anymore. Ever since the day everything changed."

Tazuna launched into a retelling of what happened to the village that had her fighting back tears along with Naruto and Sakura. And Tazuna. Seeing the the border-line hardass crying was a shock to the senses.

Is it weird this man reminded her of Naruto?

Then he got to the part where the man was put in front of the village. This bitch Gato was going down.

Naruto must have felt the same way, as he stepped up-only to fall back down, weak from training.

"I'm gonna prove it." He growled.

"Hm?"

"I'll-'I'll prove that it's true! That in this world, there are real heroes!" Naruto stood on his shaking legs, fists clenched.

"You do it." Haruhi hiccoughed. Kakashi glanced worriedly at her.

Another door slammed as Sakura ran out of the room, bawling.

"What's up with her?" Sasuke muttered.

"Shut up! You started it with her anyway!" Haruhi snapped, making Naruto open the door for her so she could go after Sakura.

"What, me?-" Was cut off. The hallway was long and empty, the dark bulbs providing no light. She was glad they had no pets. Faintly she heard muffled noises from one of the guest rooms. Slipping under the door crack she entered what appeared to be a darkened room-with Sakura's back against the corner and crying.

She was trying to muffle her sobs with little success and Haruhi stopped dead in her tracks.

"O-oh, Haruhi sensei. I-I'm sorry, it's-it's just that it's b-been-"

"-A rough day." Haruhi finished softly. Haruhi normally couldn't deal very well with tears, but she had been there right along with Sakura, and knew how she felt.

Sakura sniffled, nodding.

"...Do you want to talk about it?" Haruhi sat in the patch of moonlight from the window. And waited.

Sakura sniffled.

"I me-mean, this morning at training, when we climbed the tree I-I was so proud because for once, I did something better than the boys that wasn't book stuff. An-and I looked at Sasuke because I t-thought he would be so proud, but he ju-just lo-looked at me in disbelief! Like he thought I was incapable and I thought he would be impressed!"

Sakura wiped at her face and Haruhi ran to the tissue box and dragged it over.

"'Danks." Sakura blew her nose.

"And t-then at the bridge, Tazuna didn't believe I could do it better and I know he was impressed later when I kicked that guy away, but I still can't stop thinking about that. And then we went into town, and oh! Those poor people and I felt so bad for being upset over everything else! A-and then I almost let you get kidnapped! Twice!"

"I don't hold that against you." Haruhi said quickly. Neither times had been her fault. But Sakura powered on.

"I never felt so helpless seeing all those people hurting."

"You're not helpless, Sakura. You helped me heal faster, remember?" Haruhi said.

"Y-yeah." Sakura picked on her dress. "But then there was the story Tazuna told us and I just felt terrible."

"Same here." Haruhi winced, thinking about what she said to Inari. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to jump the gun...

Her sniffles cleared up and Haruhi saw an opportunity for a life lesson. Might as well deliver as much as she can before she leaves.

"Sakura, you are a girl who feels very deeply and has a lot of compassion. You genuinely want to help people, and that's not a bad thing at all. The ability to show love and care for others is a sign of strength."

Sakura looked up, pink rimming her green eyes.

"Just think of today and all the people you helped! You explained perfectly how to tree climb, and Sasuke and Naruto both had it down by dinner! And that little boy-did you see his face? To him, you gave him gold. I wouldn't be surprised if he carried those wrappers around with him!"

Sakura giggled reluctantly, hiccoughing halfway through.

"And Sasuke never thought you couldn't do it, but logically it makes sense! When you have less Cat-ra or whatever, it must be easier to control!"

"Chakra." She mumbled, a small smiled on her face.

"Yep. But Sasuke wasn't unimpressed. In fact, Sakura, I'll let you in on a secret." Sakura went wide eyed and leaned in closer, hair forming a curtain around them. Haruhi stood on her tippy-toes and cupped her hands.

"He was jealous of you!"

Sakura gasped, hand curling to her chest happily before she frowned like Haruhi had just taken the gods name in vain.

"But I don't want Sasuke-kun to be jealous of me! I want him to like me! Haruhi-Sensei, can you help me?"

Haruhi popped out her hip, crossing her arms and stroking her chin thoughtfully.

"Sakura, what does Sasuke want, or like?"

"Huh? W-well he likes...kunai?" Sakura winced, knowing how that sounded. Haruhi's eyebrows twitched. She had some work to do.

"Sasuke likes power, and skill. And people who give him breathing room. You showed power when you K.O'ed that would-be thief, and skill when you got to the top of the tree. And you haven't really fangirled since the Bell-test! I'd say you're already on track!"

"Really?" She said hopefully.

"Really really." Haruhi nodded sagely. Sakura smiled for the first time since this morning, before it faded.

"Can I tell you something, Haruhi? And you won't make fun of me for it?"

"Go for it, kiddo."

"Well, um, The reason I joined the academy and became a ninja was because I wanted to be better, to be stronger, and make my parents proud. And I want to be a great ninja for them and for him. But...more than anything, I want to help him. When we were really young, I remembered h-he used to always l-laugh and smile. But he doesn't anymore." She finished quietly. "Like Inari..."

Oh shit. Oh shit.

"A-and I want to help him, to help him stop hurting, and my mother always said, hugs and telling someone you care is how to, but it never worked! But then you came, and I could see Sasuke look up to you. And you got him to laugh a few times. Something I've been trying to do since the academy!...So I tried to be like you..." She poked her fingers together.

Haruhi nodded, telling her to go on.

"I was worried you'd think I was like all those other fangirls...so I tried to be different and like you. I'm not sure if you noticed it Haruhi-sensei, but you got Kakashi-sensei wrapped around your little finger! And under you, Sasuke and Naruto behave and act good and I'm, I-!"

Sakura hunched over in exhaustion.

"..."

"...Sakura, you are an amazing person, with boundless compassion and you always want to help others. Changing to help Sasuke because you care for him and want to help is sweet and touching."

Sakura nodded, telling her to go one and nervously biting her lip.

Haruhi paused.

"...But you should never change yourself for someone who doesn't appreciate it. If you think it's worth it-then it is! But you must always help yourself before helping others. Because how can you help others when you can't even help yourself? You should improve for yourself, is what I'm saying, Sakura."

Sakura's jaw dropped, eyes popping open as she processed the words.

"It-...-it is worth it to me." She mumbled, more to herself than Haruhi.

"Then do it."

Sakura looked up gratefully.

"Thank you!" She snatched Haruhi up and squished her to her cheek. Which was still damp. "You're the best!"

Haruhi giggled as Sakura squished her to her cheek and groaned as she felt her shirt get wet. She pushed back. She needed to say more-she wasn't done yet. She needed to put Sakura's actions in terms Sakura herself could understand.

"Sakura," She dropped her voice into a low whisper, making sure Sakura was listening, "This is what you want, and that's great in all, but if Sasuke doesn't want a romantic relationship-which he has already made clear he doesn't- then don't push it."

Taken aback by Haruhi's sudden turn, Sakura could only stutter.

She continued in a whisper.

"Sasuke doesn't need someone who clings to him, and smothers him 24/7. He needs friends, people he can count on to have his back and help him. People who won't put him on a pedestal, or worship him. You need to treat him like a person, Sakura, not a prize to be won between you and Ino, or a trophy. Sasuke has put up barriers between the two of you because you make him uncomfortable!" Haruhi whispered-shouted.

"W-what! No…" Sakura looked to be on the verge of tears again, and Haruhi quickly continued before she could start sobbing.

"Sakura, how did you feel when Naruto would follow you around all day, clinging to you and saying how much he loved you?"

Sakura's tears quickly subsided at the sudden question, replaced with angrily furrowed brows.

"I felt so annoyed! Why couldn't he just leave me alone? You'd think he'd take a hint!" She scoffed.

Haruhi raised an eyebrow.

"So, to clarify, you felt irritated by his constant advances, and uncomfortable, especially since he couldn't take no for an answer. You felt almost like you were being attacked, hounded with affection you didn't want. Is that correct?"

Sakura gasped excitedly.

"Yes, that's exactly it!"

Haruhi licked her lips.

"Did you ever consider that, maybe Sasuke feels the same way? That you are doing the same thing to Sasuke that Naruto did to you?"

Sakura was struck dumb. Her mouth opened and closed in complete shock. She blinked rapidly, brain turning over what Haruhi just said.

Haruhi's eyes softened in sympathy.

Choked noised emerged from Sakura and she stuttered out a short sentence.

"I-I didn't mean too!"

"Of course you didn't mean too, Sakura! But you did! You and the others! Imagine how Sasuke felt with all that attention, especially after...after he lost so much. He needed a friend, not a wife." Haruhi whispered.

Sakura was silent.

"You may not have intended for this to happen, for him to feel this way, but you made him feel uncomfortable, like he couldn't be safe or secure around you. That is the result of your actions, and you need to own up to that." Haruhi said seriously.

Sakura nodded slowly, the reality of the situation sinking in.

"...What do I do now? How can I make this better, Haruhi-sensei?" The guilt and self-hatred in Sakura's eyes made Haruhi wince.

"If I'm to be honest, Sakura, there is only so much you can do," Haruhi whispered. "You certainly haven't helped, but bad things have happened to Sasuke that were outside of your control. He has issues of his own to work through, like his tendency to isolate himself. And there are other people-not just fangirls-who put so much pressure on him. You can't do anything about that."

Sakura ran her tongue along her teeth, then bit her lip.

"So, nothing at all? Sakura whispered

"No."

Sakura looked up, startled.

"No, there is something you can do."

"What?"

"For starters, you can try being his friend first. While your admiration is understandable and, well, admirable, it makes him uncomfortable. The best romantic relationships start off as friendships. In order to have a healthy friendship with him, you need to respect his personal space. You need to respect him as a person dealing with real trauma."

Sakura nodded, then her face screwed up.

"Can I still compliment him?" She asked.

It was Haruhi's turn to be rendered speechless. When had she ever, said to give Sasuke the cold shoulder? Thinking back on their conversation, realization dawned on her.

While she had never said that, what she did say, about giving him his space and not worshipping him, could be taken that way.

"Of course you can! Just phrase it in a way that would sound like a normal complement, like one you'd give to a classmate." Haruhi corrected herself.

Sakura breathed out a relieved sigh, and Haruhi was again reminded of just how young she was.

"Sakura, I have another question for you."

"What?"

"You and Naruto are friends now, how did that happen? I want you really think about it."

Sakura shifted, sitting on her butt now. Her hand went up to rest on her lower lip and her eyes narrowed in thought.

"Well," Sakura began, "Naruto stopped following me. Stopped bombarding me with question and asking to go out with him. He gave me distance, and the space I needed to grow closer to him." Sakura answered.

Haruhi let a warm smile crossed her face.

"Good girl. That's what you need to do, too." She said. Sakura grinned, eyes sparkling with determination.

"And remember, It's not just you. Sasuke may take awhile to completely warm up to you, and even if you become real friends and not just teammates, he still might not want a romantic relationship with you. And that's okay! It may feel like the end of the world, but it won't be. Trust me."

Sakura frowned at that, but again, slowly nodded.

They sat in silence for a bit, thinking about what was just said.

Sakura's face had blanked out, the stress of the past few days finally getting to her.

"Haruhi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Yes?"

A smile slowly spread across her face before she picked Haruhi up and gave her a pseudo-hug.

"Thank you!"

"Uh, you're welcome..." She pushed against Sakura's cheek. " It's about time to go to bed, though."

Sakura giggled.

"Ya know, you give really good advice for someone who doesn't like anything but stir-fry."

"This is true."

Sakura put her down, both of them saying their good-nights. She walked towards the door-sliding under. She took one last look at the door before turning around and gasping in surprise.

Sasuke was leaning against the door.

At her gasp he looked down like a deer in the headlights but before he could run, Haruhi latched onto his shorts and jumped onto his shoulder.

"And what do you think you're doing?" She hissed.

"U-uh." He backed away from the door.

"How much did you hear?" Sasuke flushed in embarrassment

"Nothing much." He muttered.

"Well, don't let Sakura know you overheard. Goodnight." Haruhi said curtly. She jumped down and started walking away. It was probably her fault he got curious, anyway. She had yelled at him twice before she left. She walked down the dark hall, turning the corner and leaving Sasuke by himself.

"..."

"...Goodnight." Sasuke whispered back.

…

Haruhi was fuming.

Her pace was quick and agitated as she made her way towards the guest room. A finger reached up and started twirling strands of the curly hair around. Guilt gnawed at her as she thought about her recent behavior.

She had been behaving like a child.

While the stress of her situation was understandable, her judgmental attitude of these people was not. Writing off Sakura as just an airhead, criticizing that man on the bridge, hell, just her attitude towards Sasuke alone was abhorred. It wasn't their fault she was stuck here.

She fumed at herself, punching her arm.

How could she apologize?

The thought of going back there and saying sorry was daunting, and she wasn't sure she could do it, or stand to see the condescing look on his face if she did.

Haruhi headed to her room. She could apologize later, but right now, she wanted sleep.

Lord knows she needed it.

* * *

 **Wow! Talk about some character development am I right! And yes, I just made Sakura** **relatable** **. I know, filler chapters, but they are important to the plot.**


	19. Moonlight Sonata

_In which Kakashi and Haruhi relax together._

* * *

As she said before, both Zabuza and Haku were injured in the fight with Kakashi.

One of Zabuza's shoulders looked like it was only hanging on by the bone, and the other arm wasn't much better. For some reason, Haku took longer coming to Zabuza's rescue than before.

Plus the fact Haku sustained heavy burns on his hand where Haruhi expelled almost all her Chakra. This probably bought them an extra week or so. Seeing Haku in the woods leave almost as soon as Sasuke arrived, burnt hand in his basket, was a confirmation if any.

Right now it was night time again.

Tazuna was on fire and they had just escorted him home well past eleven at night. He saw an opportunity to get as much done as possible, and took it. The workers at the bridge, having not been directly attacked yet, picked up in the fervor, and they made amazing progress.

But it left everyone bone-tired afterwards. She had gotten tired just watching them.

The Genin had made leaps in their training and she was fortunate enough to arrive with Kakashi to see Sasuke thanking Sakura for her help. The girl had looked like she would jump him, before taking a deep breath and composing herself.

And speaking of Kakashi...

She hadn't really talked to him since before the mission. All the kids were asleep, as it was Kakashi's turn to keep watch, and while her eyes were drooping and she stumbled over her feet, she knew now was her chance.

Her feet padded on the wooden floor as she searched for Kakashi. She turned around a corner and through the windows she could make out the moonlight streaming onto the porch. She heard a sliding noise, only to see a hand pushing the back door open a crack-just enough for her to slip through.

She squeezed through under the hand, and appeared in Kakashi's shadow, the man himself still staring at the moon.

"Hey." She called up.

"Yo." He replied.

She fidgeted, not sure what to do. It was just like last time-she came here to say something, and then her tongue was in knots!

"So, how you doing?" He asked.

"Fine! Fine."

"..."

"...Actually, no. I'm not." Haruhi confessed.

The change was immediate. She had had his full attention before, but his posture changed. He turned and reached out to her. He sure was something else from this angle.

"Are your injuries bothering you? Did something happen-" He began in a hurried voice.

"No! That's fine, I'm just... worried." She rubbed her arms. The night was chilly and so was the porch. His hand twitched towards her, before he laced them at his sides.

"It's pretty chilly, are you gonna be alright?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"...What's wrong then?"

"I'm just worried. Zabuza and the other nin will be ready for us soon. "

"Well, we will be ready for them too." His eye darkened.

"I will be." He must have been pretty shaken up when he got caught in the water prison.

"Yeah, Zabuza won't get you this time. Not when the genin know what they're getting into."

He scratched his cheek and laughed nervously.

"He sure got me..." He forced an upbeat tone.

"But you got him! You kicked his butt and he couldn't do nothing but run away. I was impressed!"

Kakashi's visible eye widened in shock.

"Really? You thought that was cool?" Disbelief coated his voice.

"Sure did! Cool as a cucumber!"

He laughed again, more genuine this time. She yawned, before it was cut off with a ferocious shudder.

"Here-let me." Hands slipped around her slowly and she sighed at the warmth, Kakashi had taken his gloves off. He lifted her feet from the porch, shifting so they were both turned towards the moon. She felt herself being placed on his thigh and his fingers shifted, allowing her to look at the night sky. She blinked eyes adjusting to the moonlight and almost missed Kakashi's intake of breath.

"You okay?" She murmured, strands of silvery hair getting in her face.

He cleared his throat.

"Y-yeah."

His thigh was warm under her, and she sighed happily, legs spreading out against her will. His fingers were still somewhat cupped around her and she looked up for an explanation.

"To break the wind. Don't want you shivering." He said...embarrassed? She nodded in understanding.

"Is there something you want to say to me, Kakashi?" She whispered, not wanting to disturb the Man in the Moon.

"Haruhi...you were taken hostage and hurt, because I got captured. Zabuza's accomplice should never have had the opportunity." The fingers turned and dug into his thigh. She had never actually thought about it like that.

"That's not your fault, nobody knew he had an accomplice. And it's like you said- we'll be ready for when they show up! We'll be ready then."

"Doesn't stop you from having nightmares now." He muttered angrily at himself.

"..."

What did he say?

"S-sorry, I didn't know I was bothering anyone. Did I talk, um, in my sleep?"

"No, you didn't. You didn't make any noise."

"Then how did you know?" He checked up on her when she slept? The was...oddly sweet, but kinda creepy.

"Haruhi, even with Chakra, you are still vulnerable. My mission is to protect you. To sum it up, my mission is you. And I've done a pretty bad job so far."

He sighed.

"I guess...well, I just wanted to apologize. Sorry."

She blinked the sleep from her eyes angrily, standing up.

"Kakashi, I never knew you were stupid! You got nothing to apologize for! If anything, I should be the one saying sorry!" She exclaimed.

"What?" He said surprised.

"Well, I've imposed on you, and invaded your home, and made you take care of me. Hell, Lord Third practically shoved me on you!"

"Well, I think you're exaggerating."

At her annoyed crossed-arm stare, he elaborated.

"No offense, but you're not exactly hard to take care of. In fact, you pretty much take care of yourself. You're more of a help than an hindrance-Sakura's progress is amazing."

"Plus," He added "I don't mind. I was weary at first, but it's not bad at all having you in my house."

A pause.

"How about we just both call ourselves stupid."

"Okay."

"..."

"...I don't think you're stupid." He mumbled.

Haruhi tossed her head back and laughed.

"Quiet you!" She punched his leg.

Things descended into a light hearted quiet silence-the kind where you just enjoy eachothers company. They could almost hear the waves from the harbor hear. The wind was now just a light breeze, shaking some of the branches closer to the house. It was quite a change in perspective when the sun went down.

"Ya know," He chuckled " People don't call me stupid often, in fact, they say I'm pretty smar-Haruhi?"

She had laid back down on his thigh, resting on her side, curled up into a ball and pressing herself closer for warmth. Hair blanketed her shoulders and face, lips parted slightly to let air through.

His eye softened, curling with a smile.

"Goodnight, Haruhi."

Kakashi paused, as if debating something with himself, before shaking his head and leaning down,

pressing a kiss to her side.

* * *

 **Just a little bit of...goodness before the next chapter. Someone reviewed asking for some fluff, and who am I to ignore such a polite request!**


	20. London Bridge is Falling Down

_In which tragedy occurs and children are scarred for life._

* * *

The air seemed to crackle with tension the longer time went on.

Kakashi was teaching them water specific jutsu's-so even if they couldn't do them they still knew about them.

Sakura took to them like a fish to water. With her control and what not.

It was only a matter of days now. People at the bridge jumped with every clang of the hammers and Kakashi had stopped taking her everywhere. She was basically on house arrest. She suggested for Naruto to leave two clones at all times, and that helped lesson his anxiety.

It was the day when all of them except her, Tsunami, and Inari headed out she knew it was round two.

Inari had been unusually passive since Kakashi had pulled him aside for a little chat and was in his room. The two Naruto clones were by the front door and the same boy was training while the other three guarded the bridge.

"Tsunami?"

"Yes Haruhi?"

"Can you...lock the front doors? No reason in general, they can knock when they get back."

She stopped sewing. She slowly got up and turned the lock. It was a false sense of security for sure, but whatever could help. Would the men come to kidnap her like in the show? Would the heads up she gave the two clones help?

Tsunami sat back down and all was quiet.

"-Hey! Who're you!" A clone shouted. Her heart hammered in her ears. They exchanged startled glances, before bolting to the windows. Or trying to on Haruhi's part. Shouts were heard as the Naruto clones fought with the goons outside. Snatching Haruhi up, Tsunami grabbed a kitchen knife and kicked a couch in front of the door. She ran to Inari's room.

Crack.

"Come out, we know you're here!" A rough voice shouted.

Haruhi spotted the kid hiding under his bed. Frantically pointing, she put the knife in between her teeth and grabbed her son. Crashes were heard as the dishes were knocked over. They took off down the hall.

Inari grabbed the knife from his mother's mouth and jumped from her arms.

"Inari!" They both shouted. She didn't love the kid but that didn't mean she wanted him to die! He ran down the hall straight towards the chuckling hulking men. Haruhi jumped down as Tsunami ran after her son. What could she do? Against two giant hostiles-that was besides the point! She need to focus!

She kept to the sides and gasped in horror. One of the thugs had Inari by the throat.

"Listen lady. You're Tazuna's daughter right? Well if you don't want this boy dying you better come here."

Haruhi ran unnoticed outside what might have once been a door frame but was now just a hole in the wall. She knew Naruto and Kakashi set up traps around the house, in fact, she was there watching him.

She scanned the treeline.

There! She climbed the tree with difficulty, sweat trickling down her brow as she used chakra, and shimmied onto the branch. She took one of the shuriken from another trap and aimed it at the rope holding back a barrage of kunai. She looked inside. Tsunami was holding a knife to her throat.

"Get your hands off my son or I'll-"

Not at all encouraged, Haruhi aimed the kunai at the thugs back and fired.

"ARGH!" He dropped Inari as kunai buried themselves into his shoulder. Blood sprouted like a fountain and Inari, who instead of running like his mother was shouting to, grabbed the knife he dropped and stabbed the man's foot.

"ARGHHH!"

His partner was whipping his head around not know who to go for first. Let her clear that up.

"We are Ninja, from the village hidden in the leaves! And if you do not back off right now, we'll launch a barrage of kunai instead of one!

Her bellowing had provided a distraction, Tsunami grabbing her son and running to the back of the house. Haruhi readied the other kunai-this time attaching them all. They were scanning the treeline, looking for multiple full sized nin instead of one Thumbelina. She fired.

They screamed again but were able to block most of the kunai. She jump down into the thick foliage, bringing the small shuriken with her.

"Hey! I don't see any ninja! They were bluffing!"

Uh oh.

Faster than Haruhi could move to the next trap, the two dashed after the mother and son. Shit! Their wounds would slow them down but not enough!

"Hey Haruhi-sensei!"

She was scooped up.

"Need a hand?" Naruto grinned, covered in dirt from training. He must have come as soon as his clones popped.

"No." Her voice wavered. "But a hero would be nice."

Naruto grinned putting her in his pocket before taking off at inhumane speeds after them. Her eyes watered but she clenched her jaw. Naruto followed the bloody footprints and they arrived to see Inari with his mother behind him and the two thugs closing in fast.

He made shadow clones and opened his mouth.

WHAM.

"..."

"Yo-you k-knocked him out..." The man with the injured foot gasped. Indeed, Tsunami had grabbed a frying pan and knocked out one of the thugs in one fell swoop. A glare of maternal protectiveness sat on her face, and it was leveled in thug number two.

Naruto, in a series of jumps, knocked him out from behind.

Tsunami sobbed her thanks, clutching her son close to her. Inari didn't push away, but was staring at Naruto in awe before snapping out of it.

"Mother, I have to go!"

"No!"

"Mother, I need to get the other villagers, and stand up to Gato! Naruto did it and so did Haruhi! And shes small!"

Tsunami shook.

"Please...not you to." She moaned. Inari stiffened.

"Ma'am, Inari is right! Gather as many villagers as possible and go to the edge of the bridge!" Naruto said.

Haruhi stood on Naruto's shoulder. This needed to be heard from one woman to another.

"Tsunami, look at what you just did. You saved your son and knocked out a dangerous criminal-with a frying pan. Look what you were able to do even without us!"

Tsunami looked up, realization dawning on her features.

"Now fight for your village like you fight for your son, and you'll be amazed at what you can do!" Haruhi shouted. Naruto nodded his agreement. Tsunami looked up, and a spark was in her eyes. She nodded, her son grabbing her hand and they ran towards the village.

Naruto grabbed her and darted towards the bridge. Jumping on trees she had to steady her glasses with one hand. She saw the bodies splayed out on the bridge, but the rises and falls of their chest reassured her they were still alive.

But then the mist cleared and everything was all wrong.

Kakashi was facing off against a badly wounded Zabuza's who shoulder still wasn't fully healed. A giant pack of dogs growled like thunder. Haku was on the ground behind him, mask broken and coughing up blood. The entire side of his body was burned with what looked like the fireball jutsu this time instead of one hand. He lay defeated on his side.

Sasuke eyes were swirling, blood red. He was shaking and senbon lined his body. Shards of broken mirrors lined the bridge. He stood guard in front of Tazuna who was leaning down-over the broken and bloody body of Sakura.


	21. Build it Up With Bricks and Steel

Naruto's entrance caused everyone to turn towards him.

Kakashi's eyes were cold steel and she wanted to run to him. Zabuza took the opportunity to make water clones, jumping back behind a broken Haku, who had a cauterized hole burned through his side from Chidori.

Without blinking Kakashi destroyed every single one.

"Naruto! What are you doing here!?"

Naruto didn't, or rather couldn't answer, staring in disbelief at Sakura.

Tazuna had lifted her so she was partially resting in his arms, a look of guilt splashed across his face along with spots of blood. Sasuke kept his eyes on Zabuza, shaking, never looking away.

Haruhi jumped town, tunnel vision aimed right towards Sakura.

Zabuza's cornered eyes followed her small form and Kakashi stiffened, before jumping in his line of sight eyes leveling Zabuza with a fierce glare. Haku trembled trying to pick himself up.

"I've failed you..." Haku whispered, mouth twisting with the harsh burns on his once beautiful face.

Haruhi didn't notice any of that.

She ran to Sakura's side and balked at how pale she was. In an action that sparked memories, Haruhi laid her hands on Sakura's cheeks. But unlike last time, where Sakura stirred, this time her eyes didn't flutter open.

A long gash was on her back, and senbon were stuck in various parts of her body.

Haruhi couldn't tell if she was breathing.

"She jumped in front of me. My back was turned and she took the blow." Sasuke said, voice light with disbelief.

She paused from her search to find a pulse. Naruto had come over and stood limply next to Sasuke, eyes wide.

All the energy he had jumped into battle with drained from him like the color from Sakura's face.

"It's not your fault. Naruto, stand guard with Sasuke and wait for Kakashi's signal." She searched for a pulse, forcing calm into her every movement as not to scare the boys further.

She heard Kakashi clash with Zabuza and dogs snarling. Tazuna spoke but it was almost like he was under water. The deep wounds on Sakura's back clearly indicated a sword had cut her. Blood was splattered around the bridge and congealed on the icy stone.

She couldn't find a pulse.

But Haku couldn't have killed her, maybe he did that trick? But her heart stuttered as she realized there were no needles in her neck like there was in Zabuza's.

"Haruhi-sensei?" Naruto asked, in a voice way to small to be his.

Her world tilted.

This couldn't be happening. She needed to distract them. Haku had gotten up and summoned enough strength to cast an ice jutsu that make a wall between them and Kakashi.

"Sasuke, go help Kakashi. There's nothing you can do here. Naruto, make some clones and go help too." The boy was effected even more than Naruto, visibly upset. But not visibly injured.

Naruto smashed through the ice barriers with his shadow clones, surrounding Haku and Zabuza. Haku made more ice shields and for a few long minutes, was trapped with Naruto.

But she didn't notice any of that.

Sakura wasn't in a death trance and Haruhi couldn't find a pulse. She was sitting right on her chest and there was no movement.

"She was a brave girl..." Tazuna said thickly.

"Is!" Haruhi snapped. Because there was no way Sakura was dead. A ringing in ears that sounded vaguely like a pack of barking dogs was all she could hear.

"...But then you came, and I could see Sasuke look up to you. And you got him to laugh a few times. Something I've been trying to do since the academy!...So I tried to be like you..."

Not possible. Sakura had her whole life ahead of her, and she would become so so much more than Haruhi.

Haruhi started rocking back and forth. Her hand snaked up and twisted so hard and fast she pulled strands of hair out from the roots.

-"What do I do, Haruhi-sensei? How do I make this better?"

"It...It is worth it to me."

"I'm glad it was." Haruhi choked out.

She got up from Sakura's chest.

"Huh? Haruhi-sensei, What are you saying!?" A Naruto clone asked.

"Eyes on the battle!" She snapped throatily. Sasuke had launched another fireball at Haku who didn't move. Zabuza blocked it in the nick of time but Sasuke was attacking with a rage she had never seen before.

They would die soon and then Gato would come. Kakashi was injured, left arm useless. Sasuke was using up all of his energy and there was no guarantee Naruto would be able to bail them out.

They would never know the truth. Kakashi was bleeding heavily and they would be overrun by the bandits without Zabuza.

"Tazuna watch Sakura's body."

"Wha-!"

Haruhi ran.

She ducked around Naruto's feet, ignoring Naruto's shout of protest. She pumped chakra to her legs and slid across the wet bridge. Sasuke had Haku on his knees and Zabuza was being held in place by various dogs. Sasuke leveled his kunai and Kakashi raised his arm-

"STOP!"

"..."

Suddenly all eyes were on her. She felt so small with Kakashi's gaze boring into her, but she knew he was almost out of chakra and she didn't want Sasuke's first kill to be like this.

She needed to stall for time, distract everybody until Gato arrived. She swallowed past the huge lump in her throat and wiped her palms on her pants.

This was so wrong.

Children killing each other.

"Is this worth it?" She directed her gaze past Kakashi and straight to Zabuza. Sakura's pale face flash across her mind.

"Why would you work for Gato? You know how he is. You know what he's like. Now you are heavily injured, likely to die. Was it worth it? Gato doesn't care about you, you know he's just using you! Stop right now and while you won't get paid, you'll escape with your lives. If you don't..." Haruhi stopped, swallowing hard.

The stunned silence on the bridge, was, surprisingly broken by laughter.

"My my, you are a sharp one." Haku commented, fingering an ice shard with a charred hand.

"We are tools. We are meant to be used." Zabuza rasped.

Kakashi wasn't having it.

He signaled his dogs and held his kunai at Zabuza's throat, eyes sharp as a blade. Sasuke did the same with Haku kicking the shard out of his burnt hand.

"Tell us Gato's whereabouts, and we might allow you to live." Kakashi growled.

She heard Zabuza grit his teeth. Kakashi dug his kunai in a bit more, and a splatter of blood mixed with the water on the bridge.

"I'm warning you..."

He dug in a bit more, and this time a spurt. He drew back and raised his arm.

"Stop! I'll tell you! Let Zabuza go!"

Kakashi's arm stopped an inch away from his throat and Zabuza glared in shock at Haku's crumpled form. Haku coughed shakily into his hand, before smiling bitterly.

"Why, why Haku!" Naruto suddenly screamed. She hadn't even noticed him. "After all that talk about precious people and you go and, and-" Naruto couldn't finish.

"I am Zabuza's tool, Naruto. I do what I can to serve him."

Zabuza violently wretched himself from Kakashi's grip, jumping back and kicking Sasuke away from Haku. He panted heaving, arms hanging limply from his sides. He threw his head back and laughed bitterly.

"Don't you get it, boy? Shinobi are weapons to be used of and then disposed of."

"Like Sakura!?" Sasuke spat, bristling.

"She was more of a threat than you ever were. Smarter." Zabuza taunted. Kakashi grabbed the back of his collar before he could charge to his death. Haku stood hunched at Zabuza's side, awaiting orders.

Tazuna's cry of shock had them all whipping around.

Sakura was sitting up, clutching her chest in confusion. She was beaten, bloody, and worse for wear-but alive.

"How-" Haruhi choked.

Oh! There was more than one pressure point in the human body, and there was still a needle sticking out of her chest! That must have stopped her heart briefly! Of course he could aim for other areas than the neck!

A wobbly grin crossed Haruhi's face as her eyes blurred.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto bawled, gently wrapping her up in a hug. Sasuke's knees wobbled and he collapsed next to them.

"Why are you here, really?" Kakashi demanded, confused at their motives now that Sakura was alive. Zabuza hefted his sword with his one good arm.

"To kill the bridge builder!"

In one smooth movement, Kakashi scooped her up and jumped in front of a startled Sakura. He gave her to Tazuna and pulled out another Kunai.

"Haku...you failed me." Zabuza rasped.

Haku coughed up blood, bowing his head, he swayed on his feet.

"I am sorry. The way of shinobi is very difficult to me." He whispered

She jumped down onto Naruto's shoulder and threw her arms around Sakura's face, sniffling desperately. Sakura pulled the needles out of her chest in a stupor, watching the, slide out from her clothing, coated in red. She looked fascinated, like she couldn't really believe or comprehend what she was seeing. Sasuke took them and threw them over the side.

"Haku, it doesn't have to be like this! I know you aren't bad and you aren't just a tool! Don't do this." Naruto pleaded.

Haku split from Zabuza's side and ran behind them. Naruto and Sasuke went into a defensive formation, Sasuke facing Haku and Naruto and Kakashi pining Zabuza. A tense silence as they squared off, Tazuna helping Sakura to her feet while she pulled out a kunai from her bag.

"This will not end well for you." Kakashi said firmly. They had the upper hand.

And then Haku dropped like a stone.

Roars of laughter and shouts were heard as a mob of brutish men with hundreds of weapons crested the bridge. They yelled and shouted jeers at the downed Haku, who couldn't move in time to dodge the chained iron ball that cracked him blank in the back of the head. Hey lay flat on his back, not moving. The mob quieted and parted.

A long shadow threw itself over the bridge.

"Gato. What are you doing here." Zabuza growled.

The man chuckled slowly, his laughs turning to guffaws as they slowly got louder and louder. It was picked up by his loons and soon the whole bridge echoed with harsh cackles that bounced off the still construction equipment, echoing.

He launched into a speech, and Zabuza's fist clenched around his sword at the betrayal.

Gato abruptly stopped and kicked Haku in the face.

She saw his slack jaw leak blood. Internal bleeding, probably from the chidori to his side. The third degree burns twisted his nose and mouth grotesquely, pus and blood oozing from the other severe burns coated the bridge around him.

Haruhi turned to the side and threw up.

Gato laughed again, kicking the still Haku in the chest.

She was gonna fucking kill him! Naruto's choked cry of rage and the killing intent that swept from behind assured her Gato was a dead man walking.

"Heh. Too bad he wasn't alive to feel it." Gato sneered.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Naruto dashed forward, intent on landing a solid punch to Gato's face before the days end. The giant mob raised their weapons but before Naruto could get himself impaled Kakashi grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him into a bear hug. Haruhi couldn't blame him. She was shaking in rage and disgust, Haku's mutilated face flashing across her vision.

"Well what about you Zabuza! You gonna let him do that!" Naruto shrieked.

"Be quiet, you fool. Haku's dead what does it matter."

"What!? You mean you could just stand there and watch him get treated like a dog! You and Haku were together for years doesn't that mean anything?"

"You don't understand the way of Shinobi." He said coldly. "I merely used him just as Gato used me."

"Huh?"

"Now, it's over. His usefulness is at an end. The loss of his strength and skill, yes that means something to me, But the boy? Nothing."

"Who are you trying to convince?" Haruhi whispered, causing Sasuke and Sakura to look at her.

"If you mean that, then you're an even bigger rat than I thought." Naruto spat.

Kakashi grabbed his shoulder trying again to keep him from getting killed from his mouth.

"Okay that enough. He's not the enemy, not right now." Kakashi said tiredly. Naruto growled and swung Kakashi's arm off of him.

"Shut up! As far as I'm concerned, he's enemy number one!" Naruto yelled, pointing his finger at him.

Naruto stood panting, breath coming out in noisy gasped as his shoulders moved up and down.

"Why you...you ungrateful!...after everything he did for you, Haku lived for you! You were the most important thing in the world to him! And he meant nothing to you, nothing at all?" Naruto's voice shook, incredulous and heartbroken.

"While he was sacrificing everything for you, you never felt anything at all for him? A-and if I become stronger, does that mean...I'll become as cold hearted as you are?! He threw his life away and for what? For you and your dream?"

Tears gathered in Naruto's eyes and she had to bite her hand to keep from crying out loud. His voice trembled as he spoke.

"You never let him have a dream of his own. But he didn't care, and you just toss him aside like he was nothing. A broken tool... man that's so wrong, so wrong!"

"..."

"...You talk too much." Zabuza rasped.

Slowly, wet spots appeared on the ground in front of Zabuza. He tilted his head back towards the sky.

"Your words cut deep, deeper than any blade. While he fought you, his heart was breaking in two. " Zabuza paused.

"You see, Haku was always too soft and too kind. It's why he spared your teammate. He felt pain and sorrow and now curse him I feel them too."

"..."

"Well? Cat got your tongue. Are you so surprised to find I'm human as well? Even shinobi are human, no matter how hard we try to escape that simple fact, we always fail."

Haruhi wiped her face frantically, unable to keep up with the tear drops. She opened her bleary eyes to see Zabuza catch a kunai in his mouth. The muscles in his back tensed and he dashed forward. Gato screamed and ran back into the mob, the thugs closing around him.

"Ha. What's one man-URK!"

Zabuza sliced through the thugs throat and Haruhi turned herself into Tazuna's forearm, unable to watch. Bile rose in her throat at the sound of the mobs dying screams. She wiped her face and forced herself to look up.

This was the consequence of living in this world. This violence. All this was just a reminder of why she shouldn't, couldn't be here.

And the fact she would finally see the bitch Gato die sealed the deal.

She peeked up in time to see Gato go over the edge of the bridge, blood flying from his slit throat. The mob buzzed like angry bees before being silenced with a single glare from Zabuza. They parted as he staggered forward, where he fell to his knees besides Haku. Haruhi couldn't help but feel she was intruding on something precious.

When Zabuza stilled, Sasuke let out a breath of relief.

"Hey, what about our money?"

"I came here to get paid-"

"-Gato's dead."

"-Raid the village!"

The mob turned toward them. They were all that was standing between them and the village now. Kakashi was exhausted and heavily injured, Sasuke's sharingan leaked his chakra, Sakura was injured too, and Naruto couldn't do it all by himself. The mob started jogging then broke into a sprint, running around the bodies.

"Stop right there!"

A giant army of villagers had arrived. Inari was carrying a chipped red bull horn, and his mother stood next to him armed with a frying pan. People were carrying shovels, rakes, gardening hoes and everything else you could think of. But the most potent thing was the look of fierce determination on their faces. The bridge workers had gotten up, and were carrying their construction equipment, ready to defend their hard work.

"If you want the village, you're are gonna have to go through us!"

A roar unlike anything else, louder than the mob echoed across the water as the villagers charged forward. The thugs screamed and scattered, some jumping overboard. The ones who tried to fight were quickly overrun. Kakashi and Sasuke jumped to the side, carrying them all with. He cast a protective jutsu around Zabuza and Haku.

A moment of stunned silence cloaked the bridge.

"We won." Murmured the man who had left Tazuna. The one Haruhi had called a coward, but was one of the first to charge forward, two-by-four in hand.

A rumble crossed the bridge, then a murmur, until it built up into cheers of triumph.

Laughter rang across the bridge and surrounded them, people threw their hands up in the air and rejoiced. Tazuna handed her to Sakura and ran to hug his family.

Tsunami clutched her son in her arms, unable to do anything but kiss his face and cry. Tazuna was the happiest she had ever seen him, alternating from hugging his family and celebrating with the man who returned and with the other workers.

The little boy from the village had stuck the candy wrappers to his face with mud, and the shopkeeper with the shriveled carrots was dancing and jumping through puddles. The prostitute was crying, thick makeup smeared by her tears of joy. Her chipped metal mirror, the one she had used to clobber a thug over the head, slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the bridge.

As if by some higher power, the mist cleared, letting sunlight to stream in and reflect on the puddles, light bouncing everywhere.

And then there was them.

Team seven stood on the side of the bridge.

Haruhi's heart was full, fuller than it had ever been. With pain and happiness, but a wearness that went down to her bones.

Sasuke's sharingan was wavering as he committed everything to memory, Sakura stood with tears dripping from her emerald eyes, and Naruto was grinning in a bittersweet sort of way.

There was a new depth to his eyes that hadn't been there before.

Haruhi jumped onto Kakashi's arm.

"Haruhi..."

"We should get their bodies, and give them a proper burial." She whispered.

He eyed her softly, nodding his agreement to her. They weaved through the celebrating people, coming to the two bodies laid side-by-side, Zabuza's hand fallen from Haku's face. But the longer she looked, she realized something was off.

A faint rise and fall of his sides revealed something to her.

Haku was alive.

* * *

 **Did I just pretend to kill two characters in one chapter and then bring them both back to life? Yes. Yes I did. Question of the chapter: was the climax of the battle emotionally satisfying?**


	22. My Fair Lady

_In which there are wake-up calls._

* * *

Kakashi had immediately lifted the unconscious Haku up and made his way to Tazuna's house as soon as possible.

It was hard to navigate through the crowd of celebrating people, but they did.

The rest of team seven followed, Sakura being carried by Sasuke. They cleaned him up and dressed his wounds as best as possible, but all they could do was wait. The back of his skull was bleeding heavily from the iron ball, and his burns ran the high risk of becoming infected. Kakashi thought he had a concussion.

In the meantime, the village was filled with a passion she had never seen before. People held their heads up high in the streets and looked each other in the eyes as they walked past. They worked day and night on the bridge, and at the current rate, would be done in less than two weeks. The candyboy carried water from the creek, the former prostitute helped Tazuna to direct workers across the bridge.

Haku slept on.

Naruto was sent with some villagers to test the waters now that Gato was gone. They were able to bring back many fish and other goods, supporting the village until the bridge was done.

Haku slept on.

Not being able to hold it off any longer, they buried Zabuza. Putting his giant sword as a grave marker. Tazuna bowed his head in respect.

Haku slept on.

Kakashi was with Tazuna at the bridge now, finally better enough to get out of bed. Haruhi had coddled his something fierce because of it.

"Are you sure you're okay? I can have Tsunami bring something up." She chattered, kneeling on the bedside table.

"Nah. Having you here is enough." He eye smiled.

She laughed, taking it as a joke before jumping down.

"I'll tell her to make Miso soup. I know it's your favorite."

He was delighted. But not just because of the soup.

And that's where she was now. With Tsunami in the kitchen. Haku was in one of the spare bedrooms, still sleeping. Kakashi said he could wake any day now though. Sakura was there watching him as she was still recovering herself. She bore Haku no ill will, which was just further proof of her maturing attitude.

Sasuke and Naruto had come away the least injured, and proved it by a fierce water walking competition. Which Naruto was losing until she gave him the idea to split up his chakra with shadow clones.

Tsunami was bustling around the kitchen, having achieved some inner peace, as she was glowing like never before. Standing up for herself had done something no amount of money ever could. It had given her self-pride. Her husband was back into the picture, tape sealing the rip until it almost wasn't visible. She sang as she worked.

Come to think of it, when was the last time Haruhi had sang? Or even hummed?

It must have been before they left for wave. Slowly she picked up a tune, that one from Tangled. Tsunami paused in her cleaning before starting up again. She was just getting in her groove when she heard Sakura yelling.

"Stay here!" She said to Tsunami. She jumped down and bolted towards the guest room.

A wide eyed Haku was sitting up and breathing in huge gulping breaths. The burned side of his face was turned towards her as he whipped his head frantically around the room.

"Zabuza, where is-"

Sakura was standing back stiffly.

"Haku, it's okay! We won't hurt you!" She raised her empty hands.

"That is not what I asked." He said tersely. His hands clenched the sheets. Sakura adopted the deer in the headlights look so Haruhi stepped forward, clearing her throat, eyes on his burned hand.

"Zabuza killed Gato for betraying you."

"You were hit from behind from one of Gato's thugs. Gato betrayed you guys so Zabuza fought and killed Gato and his thugs. He died from the injuries he sustained from the mob." She blurted. Like ripping off a band aid.

Silence.

Haruhi was just about to jump ship when he moved.

"I...see. Thank you." The hollowness made her flinch.

And he closed his mouth and didn't say anything else. That was worrisome. Sakura said about getting food for him and left.

Haruhi couldn't help but feel worried about Haku and his future. He would probably be allowed to come back with them to Konoha as a genkai kekkei user and one of an almost extinct clan at that. And the fact that he was... scarred from fire. The left side of his body, most notably his face. It was significant. The few patches of skin that had healed were shiny and puffy while the rest needed skin grafts to heal. The only reason Haku hadn't died from infection yet was because of a basic cleansing jutsu Kakashi knew. And then with Zabuza gone too...

Haruhi was worried. Her maternal side was kicking her in the ass whenever she caught sight of his hand.

She guilty averted her eyes.

Sakura returned with his meal and he finished it quietly. Haruhi was gonna have a talk with Haku, let him know his options and that he wasn't alone. She waited patiently and Haku seemed to realize it was his cue.

"Where is Zabuza buried?" His head was bowed. Once long beautiful hair was charred and filled with split ends from the fire.

Haruhi couldn't help but stare. She had never seen someone this hurt up close before.

"We'll take you to see his grave as soon as you're better."

Haku placed his dishes to the side. He curled his knees to his chest and hair fell in his face, and she was violently reminded of a starving child on a bridge. He looked lost again.

"What will become of me?" He whispered, more to himself than her.

"I am a broken tool. Purposeless."

"Haku, you are not a broken tool!"

"Look at me!" He shouted, and it was so out of character she blinked.

His hand was cupping his burnt face, and his eyes were filled with pain. She took a deep breath. Then another. She ran her hands through her frizzy hair.

What could she say?

Her hand twitched upwards before she stopped.

"Zabuza said while you were unconscious he cared for you. He said you mattered to him and then he defeated Gato for you. Despite being severely wounded, he laid himself down next to you. And you know this as well, when people care for someone they want what's best for them. Zabuza wanted what was best for you. Do what's best for you then, Haku."

"But Zabuza, he was my purpose. I am nothing without him." His voice trailed off, sounding like the child he was.

Haku's eye, the one that wasn't inflamed and squeezed shut was glassy and lost. He swayed from where he was sitting up.

Haruhi took a deep, shaky, breath.

"You said he was your purpose, and now that he's gone you have none. No purpose. Well, he can still be your purpose. You can still live for him-even though he's gone. Live in memory of him. Zabuza cared for you, and would want you to be happy. Please, come with us."

Haku hugged his knees tighter, before a bittersweet smile curled up on his face.

"You're just like Naruto. You have a way with words, that make people reconsider, feel empathy. Did Naruto perhaps, learn this from you?"

Haruhi blushed.

"Perhaps. I don't want an answer now. Rest, and we'll take you to see Zabuza."

Haku's head was already lolling to the side, and exertion had cause his hands to tremble. He nodded and she left the room, signaling to Sakura in the hallway to come later for the dishes.

It would be a while yet until dinner time when the boys would come back, and Haruhi was kinda bored after the talk with Haku. With how stubborn Naruto was there was a strong chance he would come back with them. Haruhi herself was feeling a bit under the weather.

She was homesick. She missed pizza too. Everyone was getting antsy from being away for so long and with the bridge scheduled to be done in a week had everyone on the edge of their seats.

Sitting here and waiting was horrendous. She wished Kakashi would come back as teasing him was always fun. What was she doing before Haku?

Absentmindedly, she started singing under her breath. It was that one song from tangled, from when they were on the boat. For some reason, it reminded her of Kakashi.

"And at last I see the light~" She hummed, amused with herself.

It was a lovely song, and belting out each note did make her feel better. It reminded her of rainy days in her house, singing along to chosen songs (This had been a song of choice) while her Italian friend made pasta and the others dramatically danced on her couches and made pillow forts.

She ignored the faint flutter in her heart.

She and Kakashi made pillow forts too. Even if he talked mostly about how structurally unsound it was.

What a nerd.

"Um, Haruhi-sensei?" She snapped out of it.

"Yes Sakura?" The girl was standing to the side and giving her a strange look.

"You were smiling at nothing, I just wanted to know what was so funny?"

"O-oh, I was? Well, it was nothing."

Sakura left and Haruhi picked up the rest of the song, falling into a quick nap. They would be back soon. Kakashi would be back soon.

She again ignored the flutter in her chest at the thought. She was homesick, that was all.

* * *

"-ruhi, wake up."

She mumbled, turning back into the pillow. A prod between her shoulder blades had her blinking open her eyes.

"Dinner time, Haruhi."

She jumped up.

"Kakashi! How did it go?"

"You'll find out at dinner."

She jumped on his awaiting hand, and hugged his thumb excitedly. They would be going back soon! She would be going back soon!

"…"

...She would be going back soon.

Dinner was a happy affair, with Inari laughing and smiling as he told them of his day in the village. He had played tag with the candyboy, whose name was Akio.

Tazuna spoke of their great progress and how it would be complete soon, especially now that Gato had stopped scaring away villagers. Ren, the former prostitute, was a great help. When Sakura mentioned Haku's brief awakening, conversation stopped.

"Kakashi-sensei, Haku has to come back with us! He didn't do anything permanent and he's strong! You have to let him!" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully.

"The village would most likely grant him sanctuary, but it's ultimately up to him Naruto."

"Haku's doing better. I figured we we should let him see Zabuza's grave before we ask anything of him." Haruhi put in.

Everyone agreed that was a good idea.

Haruhi laughed at Naruto's dramatic retelling of almost drowning and she smirked along with Sasuke as he told how he had to fish Naruto out. Sakura then butted in, saying how she was better than the both of them combined at water walking.

Kakashi murmured to her about trying it herself, and she found herself nodding in agreement before she really considered what he was saying.

She might as well-it's not like she was gonna be here much longer in the first place.

* * *

(Interlude-Sasuke Uchiha)

His shoulders were hunched over and his hands were curled into fists in his pockets. He grit his teeth to keep from snarling.

Naruto walked next to him and behind Tazuna, mouth curled into a scowl and arms crossed behind his head.

Sasuke's lip curled in disdain as he stepped on a piece of trash. The brown water squished between his toes unpleasantly. Why was he even here?

He thought back to the dinner yesterday. Haruhi had yelled at them after he and the dobe ate too much, and now, after guarding Tazuna, they were going into the village with him.

Sasuke did like it.

He had mostly stuck to just the bridge and the outskirts of wave, never going too deep into town. And Sasuke didn't see why Kakashi would listen to Haruhi. She wasn't a ninja.

There was no point to this.

They walked past a woman in rags, carrying an empty basket. He looked at her in puzzlement and she hurried to escape his gaze. Why would she carry around an empty basket?

"OOPF!"

"Hey, watch it!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke scoffed. The dobe could never be quiet.

He cracked open a lid, to see a dirty little child that had run into Naruto with his butt in the dirt. Sasuke paused, eyes opening fully.

The child's age was extremely hard to tell. Skinny arms, rags for a shirt where his ribs were clearly visible through the large holes. His knobby knees knocked together as he tried to stand up.

Naruto stood to the side, mouth opening and closing in surprise. He stared speechless at the boys skeletal fingers, at his sallow face.

He was suffering from severe malnutrition.

Naruto made an aborted move to help him up, but paused when the boy flinched.

The boy reached down into the dirt, picking up two empty candy wrappers before running away. For a moment, the only sound was the wind.

Despite being surrounded by people walking, it was eerily silent, and Sasuke wasn't sure why it had taken him this long to notice.

No one was speaking. No one looked up from the dirt road, or laughed.

Sasuke's limp hands fell out of his pockets.

"This is why I am building the bridge."

Tazuna's voice shattered the silence, startling Sasuke like a bucket of cold water to the face. Tazuna wasn't drinking or scowling like he usually was, a look of dead seriousness replacing it.

"Children suffer, and the adults do nothing. That is why I build the bridge."

Tazuna he lifted his bag, and walked on.

He and Naruto exchanged glances, and Sasuke was mollified to see his own guilt reflected in Naruto's eyes. They wordlessly caught up to Tazuna, silent as graves. Sasuke noticed the woman in the alleyway, heavy makeup unable to hide her eye bags. The store they went in had empty shelves up to the ceiling.

It was so different from konoha, where there was so much food the extra was thrown out at the end of the day.

Sasuke thought back to the dinners he had. He thought of Haruhi and how she had yelled at them.

Maybe she knew what she was talking about afterall.

He clenched his fists.

That bridge was getting built.

No matter what.


	23. Decisions

_In which decisions are made._

* * *

They took Haku the very next day.

It wasn't like they could have stopped him anyway. Sasuke looked on and shuffled awkwardly and decided he would stay with Tazuna that day, Sakura was still slightly injured, so she stayed with Tsunami. So she, Naruto, and Kakashi went with him.

Haku didn't talk much, and Kakashi pulled Naruto's ear when he tried to open his mouth. He also pulled his ear when he tried to carry Haruhi instead of him. Gravel crunched under foot and crisp sea air filled her lungs. She took one deep breath, then another. They trekked up the hill, the harbor and the nearly completed bridge coming into view.

Haku was sweating but completely determined to reach Zabuza's grave. He wiped perspiration from his brow and his hand froze over his face when he caught sight of the hilt of the giant sword.

He continued wiping his brow, hand falling to his side.

They stood back as Haku walked forward. He knelt there for some time, for hours probably. Naruto trained a little ways off, while Haruhi laid in a half awake state in Kakashi's pocket, humming a tune. Kakashi was reading his book, of course. And maybe listening just a bit. She was humming the second verse of her song, when she felt something rest on her head.

Grabbing up her hand wrapped around it and brought a blue buttercup into view.

She looked up at Kakashi, but his eye was studiously on his book, blue buttercup patch to his left. She took the flower and played with the petals as she continued humming.

Haku's head remained bowed for the longest time.

He looked to be deep in prayer and thought. His hands were folded on his lap. His choppy hair swayed in the breeze. Haku was thinking deeply and Haruhi could guess what about.

Naruto came back panting heavily and he plopped down next to Kakashi, ruffling the pages of the book.

He was just in time to witness Haku grab Zabuza's sword, pulling himself up.

And pulling the sword out.

They watched wide-eyed as the heavily injured boy hoisted the giant sword over his good shoulder. He stood and turned towards them, determination in every corner of his face.

"I will come back to Konoha with you, and offer my services and Zabuza's sword as a peace offering. I know the locations of Gato's empire, and can reveal these locations to Konoha for sanctuary and a chance to be a Konoha shinobi."

"..." o.0

"ALL RIGHT!" Naruto screamed.

They headed back as it was well past lunch time. At first Kakashi offered to carry the sword after Haruhi made it clear she didn't mind a lift by Naruto but Haku insisted, and she could see a glimmer of respect in Kakashi's eye.

When they finally got back, he was sweating heavily and trembling, but walked with dignity. He dropped the sword on the porch and collapsed halfway to his bed. Naruto carried him the rest of the way. At dinner, Tazuna reported the bridge would be complete in a couple days.

A couple days that passed quickly.

The had packed up their things and Kakashi had reluctantly handed her off to Sakura. Haku was still sore so Kakashi was carrying the blade this time, Haruhi had wolf whistled and Kakashi blushed.

A group of villagers had come to see them off.

"I can't tell you how much were going to miss you." Tazuna said.

"Do be careful." Tsunami smiled, gratitude in her eyes.

"Thank you, for everything." Kakashi said.

"Now now, don't get all choked up." Naruto said in a suspiciously tight voice."We'll come back and visit real soon."

This led to Inari becoming choked up then both of them turning away trying to conceal the rivers streaming down their cheeks. She and Sakura exchanged exasperated glances. Boys. But then again, these people didn't know about the ninetails and Naruto probably wasn't used to this fair treatment.

"What are you going to name it?" Haruhi asked.

"Hmm...How about Team Seven Bridge."

"I like that." She and Kakashi said at the same time. They smiled at each other before looking back. Everyone waved farewell and they left for Konoha.

"Hey Haruhi sensei, it'll be great to be back home, won't it!"

"Yeah...Home." She mumbled, plastering on a smile. She felt eyes on her.

It would be a two day trip back to Konoha at ninja speed, so when they set up shop for the night Kakashi had first watch. The kids all went to sleep. It had been a very eventful day, as Haku had many questions, and Sakura and Naruto had some for him too. She had a feeling Kakashi wanted to talk, so she wrestled herself out of Sakura's grip and sat next to him.

"You know, Haruhi, I don't mind you in my house."

At her confused expression he clarified.

"If you want to say in Konoha, you could stay with me." Did Kakashi...look hopeful?

She blinked in surprise, blushing slightly. She remembered when they first met, and how he had outright refused, to her and the Hokage's face. This was definitely was a change compared to how it once was.

"Thank you Kakashi." She took a deep, shaky breath. "I've made my decision."

Kakashi looked up, and there was a strange glint in his eyes.

"I've imposed on you long enough. Thank you, for everything."

The glint died out, like a matchstick being dropped on concrete and grounded to ashes underfoot. He said nothing, only nodding before looking away.

* * *

While Haku wasn't an expert sensor, she was better than most.

So when she sensed another presence in the treetops while Zabuza was fighting Kakashi and the genin guarded the target, she had to investigate. Any target she didn't explicitly know as an ally was an enemy. She would find them and dispatch them quickly.

As much as Haku didn't want to, she had to leave Zabuza by himself for a bit. Haku jumped gracefully from her position, being careful not to alert the genin or the two fighting. She scanned the treetops through her mask, eyes narrowed.

The signature was unusual, different than anything she had felt before. She heard quickened breaths and a rustling of paper. Haku flicked her senbon from her sleeves and readied herself.

But before she could do anything, there was a faint pop, and a small cloud of smoke drifted through the thick foliage. Stretching out her senses, she was greeted with a now empty forest.

Who could it have been?

Very few people were skilled enough to disappear like that.

Shaking her head she rushed back to Zabuza, just in time to see the Copy nin about to land a fatal blow.

"STOP!"

* * *

The battle was the closest she had ever come to losing Zabuza. Her hands shook trying to clean his burns and heal his shoulder.

Her burnt hand stung, days after the battle

She would need to collect herbs.

Leaving Zabuza at their hideout, she picked up her wooden basket and headed to the heavily forested areas of the island. She had spotted herbs there before.

There was a boy there, sleeping in the grass.

Haku immediately recognized him as one of the genin from the battle that injured Zabuza. Her hand twitched as it neared his face, stopping to rest on his shoulder. She shook him awake.

"Huh, Wha-?"

The boy was cute, if not bit dumb. A bit like some of her rabbit summons.

She told him her name.

He prattled on blushing and stuttering, shooting glances at her face. He probably thought she was a girl.

The thought caused a pain in her chest before she beat it down, along with the urge to tell him she was actually a boy too.

She was with Zabuza now, he didn't care she was a girl and not a boy, and he didn't care she was a Yuki.

So she didn't correct him.

She felt a presence hidden in the bushes, the Uchiha boy and a smaller signature. She waited a bit before calling out to them.

"You can come out now."

When the other boy approached, Haku had to fight to keep her composure. He was very handsome. He was leveling her with an intense gaze, and Haku fought to keep down her blush. She knew he thought of her as a boy, and only platonically.

She continued to talk about her precious people, carefully watching their reactions, and being careful not to keep her eyes on the small figure hidden in the Uchiha's collar.

She leaves quickly, burnt hand in basket.

* * *

She was brave.

The pink haired Konoha nin was obviously out of practice, if her incorrect grip on her kunai was anything to go buy. Her thin legs shook with exertion, but the determination and will in her eyes was like fire.

She stood in front of the Bridge builder, pumping chakra to her feet in a way that allowed her to glide over the ice and not slip. Haku was impressed. As she glided to block more senbon Haku watched her feminine movements and had to beat back a wave of jealousy, watching her pretty red dress trail behind her along with her long pink hair.

This kunoichi had gone toe-to-toe with Zabuza in order to buy her teacher time, and had been awarded with deep cuts from his sword. Her movements were tense and painful.

Haku's eyes flickered from her to the Uchiha boy, Sasuke, who was finishing off the last of the water clones.

She needed to get her out of the way.

She flicked senbon into her soft chest, right above her heart.

The boys scream of rage cut Haku to her core. It sounded like her mothers-

She shook her head.

She needed to stay focused.

They fought ferociously, but Haku was already tired from the kunoichi's trick with the construction equipment-she had taken a bulldozer and destroyed most of her ice mirrors. Haku had to use most of her Chakra to save herself.

When the boy, aflame with rage over the loss of one of his precious people spit a fireball the size of a house at her, she was unable to dodge.

It was an intense pain, unlike anything she had felt before. She screamed in agony as it hit her side, skin popping and hair fraying and shriveling like hay over a fire. Her mask cracked under the intense heat of the flames.

The shock and betrayal on his face only made her hurt more. She wanted to apologize, but she never could say sorry, because it was for Zabuza. All for him. The man who accepted her as she was, who said she was good enough just the way she was. Who never tried to change her to fit his ideals of the perfect person, only training her and teaching her. Feeding her and buying her dresses when she had worked up the courage to ask him.

But this boy, and the look of pain on his face, a look so familiar because she had seen it on herself, made her want to.

The rest of the battle passed in a blur, ending with a sickening crack that rattled her from the back of her skull to the ends of her toes.

When she woke up to see the tiny woman and the Kunoichi her stomach sank. Was she a prisoner now?

Everything was so murky and her head was throbbing. Thinking felt like trying to swim with heavy clothes on.

The tiny woman was calling up to her and Haku paused, trying to get her wandering eyes to focus on something.

The tiny woman was very beautiful, her skin a shade of brown she had only ever seen once from a missing nin from Kumo. Her black hair was thick and curly, falling a bit beyond her shoulders. Her body was pear shaped and on the heavier side, but it suited her somehow. She had a pair of blue wired glasses, which helped small almond shaped brown eyes to see. Her nose was cute and pert, and her mouth had full pinkish-brown lips.

She was a real woman. The eloquence she spoke with, and the air surrounding her assured that. Haku again swallowed back her envy and pain.

Zabuza was dead.

The only person who had ever accepted her, who knew the full truth about her and still cared, was dead.

She laughed bitterly, and complemented the woman-Haruhi.

The next day, they took her to see Zabuza's grave. The walk was hard, her burns and head throbbing and stinging as she walked. She refused help. This was something she needed to do alone.

So here she sat.

Naruto trained in a clearing not far away from them, and Haruhi and the copy-nin sat together. She watched as he flirted with her, plucking a buttercup and placing it on her head.

She saw her reflection in Zabuza's sword. Once beautiful skin, skin she had nourished with handmade lotions made from herbs she had picked, was marred. Burns twisted her face to a point where she looked like an oni, and her hair, her long beautiful, feminine hair, looked like hay. It was choppy and patchy where hunks had been burned or cut off. Split ends and singed hairs were left over if they hadn't been removed. A burn below her left ear assured her that spot would be barren for the rest of her life-however long that may be.

She was hideous.

Not beautiful like Haruhi, or Sakura. Not a woman like Tsunami, or the woman who was helping Tazuna build the bridge. She would never be a woman now.

Her fists dug into her thighs.

What would happen to her now?

She was a missing nin, wanted due to her bloodline. She was strong-but not as strong as Zabuza. And certainly in no state to protect herself now. It was only a matter of time before nin came to collect her bounty, and before word got off the island that she was all alone now. The bridge was almost completed, word would reach the outside world soon.

And the Konoha nin, there was very little chance they wouldn't tell their Kage.

Going with the Konoha nin back to Konoha would be...awkward, to say the least. Ninja were a paranoid bunch, and the circumstances surrounding her would guarantee distrust. And Haku wasn't a fool, she knew Konoha was a ninja village like any other. She heard from Zabuza how the Uchiha were treated. If she went, she'd be forced to serve a village that didn't care for her like Zabuza did.

But on the other hand…

She needed help. These burns wouldn't completely heal without out a skilled medic, and Konoha had the best ninja hospital in the world. Being in Konoha would offer her protection, and a chance-

She swallowed.

A chance to start over. She could finally be herself. It would be hard, but not impossible.

She glanced at Haruhi, who was twirling a lock of her hair in between her fingers.

 _"Zabuza cared for you, and would want you to be happy. Please, come with us."_

Haku's eyes focused, and she stood.

She had made her decision.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Schools going to start soon and i'm only halfway through my summer work. I'm tempted to just end this with her going home. Tell me what you think of Haruhi's relationships and what you thought was neat. And Yes, Haku considers herself a girl.**

 **Be warned, the updates will start getting sparser soon.**


	24. The Seal and Haku

_In which Haruhi has a rough day._

* * *

The rest of the trip was strangely quiet between the two of them.

A cold spell had descended upon her and Kakashi and maybe it was just her imagination but he seemed happy to have an excuse not to carry her. In a way that wasn't obvious he studiously avoided her gaze while keeping up the conversation.

"Anyway Haku, when you get to Konoha you'll have to meet the old man first but afterwards I can take you to get some ramen!"

"I know something for your injuries Haku! And Konoha has the best hospital in all the nations. I read it!"

"Hn."

She could tell Haku was getting excited despite his best efforts. The trees were taller and thicker, and the buttercups were yellow now. It was when they crossed over a stream on a flat wooden bridge she realized they were close.

Close to Konoha.

She swallowed the frog that had lept in her throat. They walked for a few more hours, Haruhi pitching in on the conversation once or twice, but other than that she was uncharacteristically silent. When the gates came into view Naruto whooped and would have ran ahead if Kakashi hadn't called out.

"We need to report directly to the Hokage as the parameters of the mission have changed. Each one of you need to be there to offer up your view."

The four of them nodded. Kakashi refused to let Haku carried the sword, as he was still injured and having an unknown carrying a weapon up to the gates was unsettling.

Haruhi knew the mission report came before her being sent back. She didn't mind as a lot of important stuff did happen. But she was busy thinking what she would do when she got home. Would she have been missing for over a month? What about her cat and friends? Had her mother cried a lot? Haruhi had been gone for a long time.

...What would the genin say when they realized she was gone?

Well, she wouldn't know.

The chunin at the gates gasped and scrambled up when they saw team seven and after a few words from Kakashi they let them through, their eyes following them as long as they could.

Whispers followed them to the tower, Naruto waving and grinning at the attention that wasn't necessarily negative. People pointed and started at the burns on Haku's face and she felt a rush of anger on his behalf. She hoped Kakashi and the others would stand up for him. Maybe let Haku borrow a mask.

Kakashi leading the way and the team behind him, she watched his back, walking farther and farther away. Desk chunin muttered and watched them, but were smart enough to not get in Kakashi's way. They were rushed into the room. The Hokage had put down his pipe and Haruhi made herself comfy in Sakura's bag as he laced his fingers, a serious expression befalling his face.

Kakashi opened with a basic explanation of what happened, the changing of the mission rank and bigger threats. When he got to the part with Zabuza and Haku his eyes darted to Haku, before focusing on Kakashi.

Kakashi airbrushed the battle to exclude Haruhi, as the desk Chunin were still listening with open mouthed rapt attention. Team seven jumped in with their own comments and stories and when they finally got to the end of the second battle Naruto couldn't contain himself.

"I WILL VOUCH FOR HAKU! HE DIDN'T ACTUALLY HURT ANYONE!" Naruto bellowed. Birds took off.

A tinkling laughter filled the room.

"Thank you, Naruto. But I can speak for myself." Haku smiled, and despite his burns it was still charming.

"I would love to hear it. However, all ninja except Kakashi and Haku needs to leave."

To her surprise, Kakashi swiped her from Sakura's bag while she passed. A moment of confusion spent in darkness before she was in Kakashi's pocket again. Her heart hammered as she poked her head up. Haku's fate was about to be decided.

As he told his story she had again, to fight back tears. She thought she might have heard Kakashi sniffle once or twice, but she couldn't be sure.

"So you see, Lord third, the ninja way is very hard for me, but I know it's the best for protecting those precious to me. My wish is to be a real ninja, as I was not affiliated with any village before-despite my training."

Haku laid the giant sword on the floor, from which he had just taken from Kakashi.

"I offer my services, this sword and locations to Gato's empire in exchange for sanctuary, and, a chance."

He knelt and bowed his head.

The third puffed his pipe, eyes on Haku. His expression softened.

"Haku. Normally, ninja in your position would not have been accepted in the village. But with your story, offers, and vouches from your friends, you may be allowed to stay. You will have an evaluation and will be ranked accordingly."

Haku nodded, getting up.

"And if I'm not mistaken, there's something else you need to talk to be about Kakashi?"

Taking the initiative, Haruhi jumped onto Kakashi's shoulder. Haku opened the door and the three genin tumbled out in a pile, kicking and shoving.

"Old man, Haku can stay!" Naruto shouted with glee. Sakura squealed and Sasuke said nothing but smirked. Haku walked into the hallway and called for them to follow.

"Bye." Haruhi called with a note of sad finality.

The kids had grown on her-especially Sakura. But Haruhi had already overstayed her welcome. While the thought of going back home after two months and trying to explain what had happened to her was unappealing, staying in this world with child soldiers was even more so. Haruhi lifted her hand and waved goodbye.

"Bye? Wha-Haruhi-sensei!?" But the door closed in their faces. A reinforced one that they couldn't get through.

"Haruhi, I trust Kakashi has been treating you well?" He asked kindly. She restrained herself from twisting her hair-a nervous habit.

"Yes he has."

"But that isn't what you came here for." She nodded.

"Lord Third, Konoha has been nothing but kind to me and I enjoyed my stay here. But...I don't want to impede or anything. I would very much like to head home now."

He folded his hands, a troubled look on his face.

Haruhi's heart beat rapidly, and she knelt on Kakashi's palm. She wiped her hands on her pants and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Haruhi, I understand you are out of your element here, and I commend you on your adjustment. But this seal is like nothing Jiraiya has ever seen before- we don't know the risks of unsummoning you. Jiraiya himself is currently out of Konoha at the moment and I don't want to risk anything without a seal master present."

Akatsuki.

Haruhi nodded, unable to get around the lump that had lodged itself in her throat. Suddenly she wasn't shaking anymore-all the energy had been sucked out with those few words.

Kakashi turned to leave but Haruhi didn't notice, too much in a stupor. Blood roared in her ears as she knelt statue still. Was she stranded?

Was she stranded?

She vaguely registered shouting. Naruto was waving his finger at her with a twisted expression on his face. They had somehow moved from the office to an empty side hallway without her knowing it. She tilted her head down at him. He was panting heavily and his arms were crossed and he seemed to be blinking back tears.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" She said worriedly.

"..."

A dead silence as everyone stared at her. Just stared in judgmental disbelief. Naruto was actually stunned into silence. She was so confused, everything was moving so sluggishly, like her brain had turned to jello. Then, in a voice way too small and insecure to be Naruto's, he spoke.

"Haruhi-sensei, you were gonna leave us. Like...just go. After everything like-like we were nothing." He whispered. Not shouting at all.

His eyes were big and doleful. He seemed to be incredibly shaken up by this. To have finally found a group of people who accepted him for him, to have one of them leave so suddenly with only a goodbye would do that. He probably felt powerless, helpless again, like he was watching Sakura and Haku die all over again.

Her heart stuttered and she felt sick. She never meant to hurt anyone. That was why she wanted to go back. He wiped his face angrily, tears smearing. Sakura sniffled in the background.

"How could you?"

He said it so lowly, with so much hurt and anger, accusation, emotions Haruhi had been doing her best to repress bubbled like a boiling pot to the surface. She sniffed. Once, then twice. Kakashi's finger twitched.

"I never meant to hurt you guys. I'm sorry, but-"

"Well what did you think leaving was going to do!?" Naruto demanded. His nose was turning red and pink rimmed his eyes.

"I..." Her voice cracked and Naruto recoiled. "I just wanted to go home."

"..."

"But Konoha-"

"Is not my home." She snapped. Her voice echoed.

"Did you ever take into consideration my feelings? How I felt? The utter helplessness I felt? The vulnerability I felt? I literally didn't fit in. A strange new place filled with people I've never met before. I felt like a fish out of water, weak, useless-"

"That's not true-"

 _"Feelings don't care about facts, Naruto!"_ She shouted. It echoed off the walls.

"..."

"I'm sorry, okay!?" And to her horror, her throat clamped shut, cutting her off and terrible, guttural sobs sprung from her throat.

She buried her face into her hands, desperately trying to muffle the heart wrenching sobs that escaped her. Her shoulders heaved and her hands shook with the effort.

The hall was silent except for her sniffles.

Kakashi murmured something to the four, before lowering her into his pocket. She curled into the familiar fabric, still desperately trying to quiet herself. She felt them move and Kakashi talking to a few more people. Her face stung in that numb tingly way and the front of her shirt was wet.

Her vision was blurry from the tears, so she wiped her face and lifted her shirt up over the bridge of her nose. They were almost at Kakashi's house. He opened the door and she almost recoiled at the sterile scent that hit her sensitive nose. It was like the personality and warmth had cleared out with them.

He walked and placed a giant brown paper bag on the counter. He lifted her out of his pocket and placed her on the counter a little to the left of the fruit bowl. She kneeled again, hair falling around her head as a sort of curtain, and shirt pulled up.

Kakashi said nothing, only getting started on dinner. When the familiar smell of stir-fry reached her nose, filling the air with that familiar warmth she almost smiled in spite of herself. She gave one last hiccough and blew her nose in a napkin, and now that her nose was clear, she could smell that familiar scent wafting through the air.

Kakashi said nothing as he slid a saucer in front of her and then dug in himself. She politely turned her back, munching on a pepper. The tangy crunchiness cheered her up a lot more than it should have. She loved stir-fry, But there was still something on her chest...

"Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"You didn't um, ya know, feel the same was as they did..."

The chewing stopped. He seemed to consider his answer before responding.

"It's like I said, Haruhi...I wouldn't mind if you stayed. In fact, I'd be pretty happy."

"B-because I never meant to hurt anyone, you see, um, I just wanted to go back. S-so maybe I need to apologize to them. And you. Sorry. It was nothing you guys did."

"There's no need for that. It's perfectly understandable. But I don't think you realize the impact you have on this team. In almost no time, you have become the emotional backbone of squad seven. Of course they'd be upset knowing you would leave."

"But what about you?"

"...I'd be pretty upset too. But don't let that stop you." He said quickly. He then eye-smiled.

"While we wait for his return, I picked up something that just might make this a little more manageable for you..." He reached into the brown paper bag and pulled out tiny wooden stairs. Fold-able and easily put up.

"Oh, Kakashi!..." This was great! It gave her mobility! Independence...

"Maa, I thought that would make you feel better." It seemed their cold-spell was over.

Perhaps a bit impulsively, Haruhi jumped up and climbed his arms, much to his surprise.

"Haruhi wha-?"

She threw her arms around his face, laughing, and then kissed his cheek, right above the mask.

He froze, his confused speech stopping like it had hit a brick wall.

She jumped back down to the counter, landing heavily on her knees. When she looked back up, his one eye was still open in shock, a rosy dust had settled on his cheek. His hand rose to cup it and she cheekily bit into her pepper, pleased with herself.

She finished up, then went down the stairs to the floor with ease. She went to the guest bathroom and up to the sink-with ease.

She never thought she would miss the feeling of walking up and down stairs but here she was. The ability to finally do something for herself without having to ask for help was liberating. She felt like an adult again.

Saying good night to Kakashi, she headed towards her bookshelf.

Books had always been a huge part of her life, ever since she started reading at four. She always sat in the back of class with a book, or with one hidden in her textbook. She would spend hours at the library and use all her birthday and allowance to buy some. In fact, reading was the very thing she was doing when she was summoned here. To her, this bookshelf was more than just a place to sleep. It was the closest thing to home she had here.

She saw that Kakashi had sneakily applied another staircase and wedged it in between a couple books.

She settled on her bed, and while the doll was no Patches, it did the job well enough. She turned on her side of the bed, the one away from the opening and closed her eyes.

* * *

She sensed a disturbance in the force.

The air had changed around her as if another presence was warming it. It might just be Kakashi checking up on her again...

She cracked open a eyelid, and then bit her arm to keep from gasping. A hand like a giant spider was creeping towards her. Something metallic glinted in the darkness and it wasn't a kunai. The arm(which was not Kakashi's) seemed to be searching for something.

Her.

Its fingers felt along the wooden shelf like antenna, pads running perversely across her furniture and on her clothes.

It was getting closer.

 _Ba-bump-Ba-bump-Ba-bump-_

She desperately lowered her breathing, and rolled over the side of the bed silently to the shelf, leaving the doll on the bed. She crawled to the other side inside a scroll and trembled.

Peeking out she saw the pinkie finger inches away from her. It wasn't Kakashi's. No way. She knew his hands.

It patted silently, still searching. The fingertips came to her bed and paused, hovering right over where she just was not a minute ago. In a vice like grip it wrapped around the doll, lifting it up and out of sight. Vanishing into the night.

She didn't know how long she sat there trembling, but when she came to her senses, she jumped up and ran.

Past the couch into the hallway, beyond the bathroom and knocked on Kakashi's door.

He opened it and she normally would have squealed at his bed head, if she hadn't been almost kidnapped. She nearly cried in relief.

"Kakashi, somebody was here, in here-"

He scooped her up against his chest and darted into the living room-where the stairs in the side of the bookcase laid cracked and bent. She trembled and he rubbed her back with his thumb.

He was pissed.

He summoned Pakkun to do a check and secured the rest of the house. The man was long gone and she wished she could have made out more of him in the darkness. Because he had just destroyed something that gave her security, made her feel better.

He had violated something she had considered her second home, destroying whatever sense of safety she had left. Some part of her had always thought Kakashi's home was untouchable. Thanks to this guy, that idea was dashed.

"Kakashi, what now?" She whispered.

Kakashi rubbed his chin.

"Hm, well, there's simply no other way." he nodded in finality.

"Kakashi..."

He looked at her thoughtfully.

"Haruhi, from now on, you're sleeping with me."

* * *

 **End chapter!**

 **As you could tell I have decided to continue this.**

 **I was happily surprised by the number of people who had responded with comments to continue, and as you can see, I was inspired by it. I could tell they came from the heart.**

 **And since I am continuing this, I will explain what type of story it's going to be.**

 **It's not going to be OC embarks on a quest to change the plot and save everyone. As you can tell, she's doing her best to keep her nose clean. This fic will focus on team seven and the impact she had on them, and her dealing with her own struggle in a world that is literally not made for her. Not to mention her budding relationship with Kakashi and how they will develop romantically.**

 **This story is unconventional at it's roots, and will continue to be so.**

 **Haruhi will be a maternal figure to the young of team seven and will give advice and won't take B.S. But she will be dealing with insecurity, stress, her feelings towards Kakashi, and homesickness. Those won't just go away. There will be consequences to her stay.**

 **This fic will end around when the original Naruto ends.**

 **Ending question: What do you think of Haruhi x Kakashi so far? Why do you like or why don't you? What makes it work for you? What was your favorite moment?**

 **Until next time!**


	25. A Day Off

_In which Haruhi learns of the power of Youth!_

* * *

When she woke up, it was with much confusion. And comfort.

It was very soft but definitely not Kakashi's pocket or her bed. A steady torrent of rain between a drizzle and a mild downpour pattered against the window

She felt like she was drowning in fabric, the absolute fluffiness felt like it could smother her with it's buoyancy. Shifting her heavy limbs, there was a noticeable dip where she was sleeping.

A pillow.

She was sleeping on a giant pillow.

Even bigger than the one she had slept on in the living room, the one that was Pakkun's pillow. It was like sitting in a crater on the moon. It also smelled really, really nice...like pine.

A deep heavy breath to her left, almost a snore but not quite, startled her into upright position. She still couldn't see over the arch of the pillow but she had a pretty good idea of who it was. Grabbing handfuls of fabric, she made her way over, overbalanced, and tumbled onto the bed.

She flopped like a pancake thankfully onto the firmer mattress. The heavy breathing cut off.

"Kakashi, what do we do today?"

He didn't respond for a few seconds, probably deciding whether to go back to sleep or not.

"...Today is our off day for team seven, to recover in the aftermath of a high ranked mission."

"Well, we used up all the remaining food last night, so we need to go shopping."

He grunted and rolled away from her. She fell down at the movement. It was a lot like being on a trampoline and standing up and then some guy jumps right next to you and your legs cave.

She got up and bounced over, imagining this was a lot like being on the moon. She grabbed his black night shirt and stepped on his back, feeling him shudder at the weird feeling.

"Please?" She whined. "I'm hungry and I-I don't wanna go by myself." She pouted.

He remained remarkably still, before reaching over and picking her up with his hand. He sat up sluggishly with his eye barely open looking exhausted. For a second she felt bad, as he had stayed up a bit longer to search for her would be kidnapper, but that feeling disappeared with her growling stomach.

He eye-smiled and stood up. He put her down on the ground and they both went to brush their teeth or whatever. She finished before him of course, so she went into the kitchen on top of the counter. What fruit was left was spotted and wrinkled. Her nose curled and she jogged to the other end of the counter.

Kakashi walked in, raking his fingers through his tremendous bed head. She giggled and he sent her a deadpanned questioning look.

"Cumulonimbus cloud Kakashi."

"Maa." He flapped his hand. He checked the fridge as if food would magically appear, before closing it in defeat. Kakashi searched for an umbrella and Haruhi ran to the bookshelf and climbed up it the old fashioned way, changing into day clothes.

Kakashi had changed into long sleeves and his flak jacket and she put herself between that green ruff and his cloth covered neck. It was raining outside so they didn't have to worry about a lot of other people being out.

They stepped outside and immediately the pattering of rain against the umbrella relaxed her in a way almost nothing else could. She sighed and leaned against the neck ruff, appreciating the smell of rain and the freshness that accompanied it.

"...You really like rain, don't you?" He mused.

"Yeah." She sighed happily.

It was peacefully quiet into the shopping district of Konoha, the few people that were out holding newspapers or umbrellas and walking quickly to their destination. Kakashi walked slowly, probably to let Haruhi appreciate the rain for a bit longer before they went into the store.

Where they arrived at the familiar place she had seen once before, they took shelter under the canopy, Kakashi shaking out his umbrella before hooking it to his side.

"What do you want to get?"

"Veggies, fruits, maybe some chips too."

"Sounds good." He agreed.

The store was mostly empty, the cashier from last time lost in a book at the checkout. They compared noodles, looked over sauces, and snuck a few grapes for themselves. He bought her a bag of peach rings as she had squealed in his ear when she saw them.

They were giggling over a funny looking fruit that kinda looked like a butt when they heard a roar.

"YOSH! MY ETERNAL RIVAL HAS RETURNED, WITHOUT VISITING ME FIRST!"

Ears ringing, she considered her options. Kakashi was frozen in shock and at this angle wouldn't get past Gai. There was only one way but up. She jumped and grabbed his hair, pulling herself up into his cloud-like hair. it got the job done and hid her perfectly but she couldn't get over how weird it was. She was glad he took a shower this morning.

Gai was still going strong and within seconds blew away the peaceful atmosphere. The Cashier had fallen off his chair and Kakashi was standing extremely stiffly. She felt rather like a panther in a jungle.

She loved Gai.

Like, he was just so cool? Endlessly optimistic and kind? Passionate? She liked that. Quite reminded her of herself in fact. She giggled. She wished she could meet him face to face, she was sure his reaction would be the best!

"Was that you?" Said a confused Gai.

Kakashi walked up to the cashier and paid for their things Gai at his side like a limpet. It was Obvious Kakashi was trying to shake him but couldn't due to her nesting in his expansive hair. Was it weird she was happy about that?

"My Youthful Rival! I shall accompany you!"

"That's not nessacar-"

"AH! You will be making lunch. I happen to say we should make curry!" Gai exclaimed, holding out his own bag of groceries. Haruhi had actually never had curry before and was very interested. Kakashi opened his mouth, undoubtedly to say something rude, so she tugged on his hair.

"No-ouch!"

"Hmm? Have you something to say, my Eternal Rival?"

"No." Haruhi giggled again, and felt Gai send another strange look at Kakashi.

"Ah, my rival, I see you're in a good mood as well! I Must admit to never hearing you giggle like that, HA!"

Haruhi giggled again but Kakashi chose that moment to open the umbrella.

"Curry, curry, curry..." She chanted quietly, stamping lightly on his head.

"What was that? You want curry too!" Gai seemed to be on the verge of tears. She felt Kakashi slump in defeat. Now that she thought about it, Gai was trustworthy. Before they left Kakashi considered handing her over to him.

She peeked out to see him talking animatedly towards them, underneath his own umbrella. He gasped and she retreated quickly.

"KAKASHI THERE IS SOMETHING IN YOUR HAIR!"

She slid off his head and into his front pocket-just in time too as Gai started searching Kakashi's voluminous hair. She giggled.

"What is this Kakashi? Are you ticklish?"

She giggled again and Kakashi booked it back home. She giggled as Kakashi ran, trying not to slip in the puddles with Gai hot on his tail.

"YOSH! This game it quite fun, isn't it?" Gai shouted. Gai thought Kakashi was the one giggling! This only made her laugh harder, ignoring Kakashi's shushes. His front door in sight, he slammed it shut, sighing and putting the wet umbrella to the side. Gai could be heard in the distance. He pulled her out of his pocket with an annoyed look on his face, Haruhi grinning cheekily up at him. He put her down on the floor and went into the kitchen.

Haruhi got on from laying on her side and walked towards the kitchen.

BANG. The door flew open behind her.

"YOSH MY YOUT-HUH!?"

Gai stood in the doorway one hand giving a thumbs up and the other holding the umbrella behind him. One foot was held out from when he kicked open the door. His face was slack open-mouthed in shock.

Haruhi stood frozen like a mouse in his shadow, before grinning and waving.

"Hello! I'm Haruhi! It's so wonderful to meet you!" She giggled.

He stayed frozen in position.

"A-a tiny person..." He whispered in shock.

She beamed and waved.

In a motion that blew back her hair he threw himself on his knees and elbows, inspecting her from all sides. She didn't mind, cause Gai was cool. Kakashi was standing frozen in the background.

"I heard you back there. You seem like quite a youthful person." Haruhi said cheekily, winking up at Gai. He laughed, still a bit thunderstruck. Outside the rain picked up and Kakashi went and closed the door. He lent and picked her up.

"Kakashi are you sure that's okay?" Said Gai worriedly.

"Maa, it's fine." He said, turning himself and her away from Gai. "You might as well stay a bit and get an explanation."

"Curry." Haruhi whispered. Kakashi tightened his grip.

"Ah! You want curry, then!" Gai said, starting to regain his former mood.

"That's alright Gai, I can-"

"Curry!" She giggled, cutting Kakashi off.

Gai looked delighted, spouted some gibberish and took over the kitchen. He threw question after question over his shoulder and Haruhi happily answered them all. Kakashi sat on a stool with his arms crossed.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked.

"I simply can't choose one! What's yours?"

"Green!"

"I can tell!"

They both laughed. Gai was just the type of person that brought out her kind happy side.

"How did you get so small?"

"Jutsu. How did you get so big?" He was just as tall as Kakashi, who was canonical one of the tallest characters.

"Training! AND YOUTH!"

He launched into an explanation of his insane training regiment, Haruhi clapping with delight. He caught him shooting looks of awe and curiosity at her and she beamed in return. She couldn't explain why she liked Gai so much.

"So, how do you know Kakashi? Are you guys friends?"

"We are RIVALS!" He said over the in-process curry.

"Oh?"

She glanced at Kakashi, whose forehead was on the counter. Gai happily explained their rivalry in its entirety, including their score.

"Alas, my Rival is currently ahead-by one point!"

"Keep at it!" She encouraged.

She was endlessly fascinated with Gai and she could tell it was mutual. Kakashi remained silent. The curry was ready and her mouth watered as he placed a bowl in front of her.

It was delicious and she let Gai know, who then wiped away a tear.

"My cooking is good too" Kakashi grumbled.

"Another point for Gai! You're tied now!" Haruhi said around a mouthful of curry.

"YOSH!" He cheered.

They ate up, Kakashi turning around, in a bad mood for some reason.

Gai declared he had to go not long after that, something to do with extra training with Lee and his nightly exercises. He promised a return and Haruhi smiled in delight as she ate her Curry.

Kakashi cleaned up and put the leftovers in the fridge without speaking. Haruhi went down the stairs to her bookshelf and called back.

"Kakashi?"

"Hm."

"If I'm staying in your room now, shouldn't I move my stuff there too?"

He took a moment.

"Yes."

Haruhi made work of moving her things into his room under the cabinet. It was actually pretty easy-even without the stairs. Kakashi was pouting in the kitchen again sorting and washing everything slowly. This continued for about two hours and the rain was picking up outside. 'It was a good thing they got home when they did' she mused. As the rain picked up, so did her mood. She felt better than she did yesterday.

But Kakashi's did not. His pouting turned to sulking, and Haruhi wasn't sure what to do. Was he that upset about curry? The clouds outside were magnificent and she sighed happily.

"Do you really like rain that much?" He asked.

She nodded as she passed the kitchen.

Kakashi was quieter than normal, not even humming like he normally did. She bit her lip. How could she get him to speak?

"Kakashi, wanna know what my favorite color is?" She called back.

"What?"

"Gray. I like gray quite a lot." She said. "It can be a very nice color. It had a bad rep as boring, but just look at those storm clouds! And the best characters in books are always gray..."

"Oh." He ran his hand through his hair.

The atmosphere seemed to pick up.

"What's your favorite color?" Haruhi asked, in the process of carrying a miniature chair over her head.

"...I quite like golden-brown ." He mused. Haruhi grinned, resting her palm below her eyes.

The grin slid off her face as thoughts of the genin reached her. They would still probably be mad at her-as they should be, as that was a bit heartless on her part. She slowed her pace and Kakashi picked up on it.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She sighed.

"You know, the genin will forgive you."

"How do you know that?" She questioned sharply. He appeared from the kitchen holding soapy dishes and sleeves rolled up, eye-smiling at her.

"Because it's impossible to stay annoyed at you!" He laughed " You're too...Haruhi, for that."

She scowled at him, but that only made him laugh again.

They continued working peacefully after that, Haruhi arranging her things under the dresser and Kakashi doing things around the house. Cleaning and setting up extra defenses. Time passed extremely quickly this way, and she pulled the garden book off of the shelf-despite said shelf now giving her the creeps. It seemed Kakashi had removed the broken wooden staircases.

He read his Icha Icha and she read her veggie book which was a lot more fascinating than you'd think. When her eyes started to itch in exhaustion she went to bed-now under his dresser. For some reason, it wasn't as comfortable as it used to be.

Her eyes slid shut and she started dreaming.

 _A woman sat at an empty kitchen table. A clocked ticked in the background, signifying the time as 2:01 in the morning. The woman paid no heed to the time, only gazing blearly into her cup of long cold tea._

 _The reflection that stared back at her was one of a tired woman, deep purple eyebags under dark brown eyes, skin dull with a lack of sun._

 _Where was her daughter?_

 _She regretted not checking up on her immediately, like she said she would. But they needed her at work, and as the manager of that branch of the company she couldn't just leave._

 _"Mom?" A voice said tentatively._

 _Her eyes widened and her head snapped to the side._

 _There was her daughter. Her chair stretched on the tile floor as she jumped up, eyes alight with joy. She made a move to go and hug her daughter, but when she stretched out her hands, she stopped and stared at the huge appendage._

 _She looked and her eyes became bigger, wider, darker. She lifted her arm around in a circle. Bones cracked and the business shirt ripped and tore. It grew bigger longer giant as it descended towardshersmallhelplessform-_

Haruhi gasped, springing out of bed. Her heart thudded in her chest.

"Just a dream!" She whispered." Just a dream."

"Haruhi?" Said a worried voice. Directly to her left Kakashi was kneeling with his face pressed to the floorboards. His gray eye gleamed worriedly at her hunched over form. She got up on shaky legs.

"Kakashi...can I sleep on the pillow again? Please?" She asked.

He said nothing, only offering his hand to her. She was overwhelmed with gratefulness and hugged his thumb as she crawled on.

"Thank you. Sorry if I woke you."

"Maa, I was reading Icha Icha anyway."

She giggled nervously and tucked her hair behind her ear. Kakashi placed her on the bed and she ran over to her pillow, climbing to the top. Feeling mischievous, and grateful now, she licked her lips and opened her mouth.

"I love curry, Kakashi, but it just doesn't beat stir-fry," She called over to him. "Take another point Kakashi. As much as I like Gai, I like you better." She winked and blew a mock kiss. She then followed it up with a muffled goodnight.

"Goodnight."

"...Goodnight."

* * *

 **Alright! Another Haruhi x Kakashi moment(s)!**

 **Do they have chemistry? In a few chapters, I'll crack down on Sasuke. In this story, filler chapters are actually very important, as they give me time to develop the relationships.**

 **May of you have asked when and will she get bigger and my response is; in due time, my friends. In due time...**


	26. Team Seven

Haruhi clutched the pocket inside worriedly.

Their day off had passed and she and Kakashi were heading, (two hours late) to team seven's meeting place on the bridge. Haruhi wasn't in the habit of biting her nails but if she was they'd be stubs by now. She had actually wanted to wait longer but Kakashi actually insisted on leaving a bit earlier than their normal three hours. It was like he wanted her to confront the students or something.

"Oh Haruhi, I forgot to tell you. The Hokage has declassified you."

"...What?"

"Well, you weren't a very well kept secret in the first place, but now that you'll be staying here longer you can be out in the open." He said before adding quickly "That is only if you want to of course."

"Oh."

That was nice but she had more important things to worry about. Like what the genin would say. She squealed at the thought and covered her ears, ignoring Kakashi's bemused look.

They were in the forest now and the bridge was just up ahead. Distantly she could hear Sakura yelling at Sasuke and Naruto, telling both of them to knock it off. Kakashi stepped over the top of the hill and they quieted like someone hit the mute button.

She shrank down into the pocket and curled up at the bottom, too worried to actually look out of her peep hole. Speaking of which, she'd found the floss cutter while moving all her stuff around the other day. It had been a pleasant surprise when she had found it, but was only able to perk up her mood for a little bit.

Kakashi went on to explain they should go and see what missions were available and the three nodded before descending into silence.

"Where's Haruhi-sensei?" Naruto asked(demanded).

She sunk even lower. She should just face them already but apprehension was grabbing her gut and twisting it. She had to get out before Kakashi pulled her-

"She will speak when she wants."

Wow okay.

But Haruhi felt...cowardly curled up at the bottom of Kakashi's pocket- especially when he was defending her like that. So she took a deep breath and hauled herself up. She was done hiding.

"Haruhi-sensei!" Sakura and Naruto shouted before falling into a nervous silence. Sasuke dug his hands in his pockets, Sakura put her hand to her mouth and Naruto flailed around.

...Were they just as worried as she was?

Barely daring to hope, Haruhi cracked a small, shy smile.

The tenseness melted from their frames and Naruto burst out bawling.

"We're s-sorry, Haruhi-sensei!" Naruto wailed.

Haruhi was blown away. She expected them to be mad, not relieved to the point of tears. Naruto was making grabby hands at her as she was on Kakashi's shoulder and she decided to comply, jumping down as he pulled himself together.

"I'm sorry too. I didn't think I was such a big deal." Haruhi ran a hand through her now damp hair from Naruto.

"But Haruhi sensei, you promised you'd help." Sakura pouted. Naruto sputtered some gibberish.

Yeah, she did do that.

"You're a part of team seven! You're important!" He sniffled. Sasuke gave a jerk of his head that might have been a nod.

Since when did that happen!? She was expecting emotions to run high, but not this whiplash! She guessed it didn't matter anymore, considering she would be here for a while longer by the looks of it. She hadn't heard a peep about the chunin exams and Jiraiya only came back after the forest of death. She had months to go and doing what she was doing before would be pointless. She had already failed miserably at trying not to change the plot.

"A mission! Let's go!" Naruto shouted. Haruhi jumped over to Sakura to Kakashi's disappointment, and with everyone in a much better mood they made their way to the mission desk; Haruhi standing proudly on Sakura's shoulder. She started to have second thoughts as soon as they made their way through town towards the tower. At first nobody noticed, but when they did, they exclaimed loudly and pointed.

"What is that?"

"Look as his shoulder!"

Because he made her feel safe, she'd jumped on Kakashi's shoulder and hid behind the green ruff by kneeling on his clavicle. He seemed not to mind. News traveled fast and by the time they reached the tower people were blatantly stopping and staring.

They walked in and the desk chunin stood up behind their desks, but seeing her with the copy nin had them sitting down again. Whispers and stares followed them and her face was a bright cherry red by the time they got to the mission room,where Iruka gasped in shock. She blushed and waved.

Iruka waved back, in a sort of shell shocked way.

The Hokage was smiling (smugly?) as he smoked his pipe.

"Team seven successfully completes an A-rank mission and is back only after a day of rest." He stated. The genin shimmied with repressed energy.

"Yeah yeah! Give us another mission old man!"

"Hmm..."

"C'mon!"

"It's standard to have at least a week of rest after this high of an A ranking mission."

"We already rested after we defeated Zabuza!" Naruto yelled.

The Hokage kept up his thoughtful expression.

"Well, then the five of you can get acquainted-"

"Huh?" Said everybody, except Naruto as he didn't know what that word meant.

"-With your newest team member. "

The Hokage signaled somebody with a wave of his hand and they waited with baited breath as they went to go get the newest teammate. Haruhi had an inkling as to who is could be but she didn't want to get her hopes up...

Naruto screamed.

"HAKU!" He cried, jumping the poor kid. Haruhi grinned as the other two greeted Haku a bit more gently, Sasuke almost in fact completely ignoring him. The kid seemed to be doing a lot better, burns completely healed with a bit of scar tissue on his face and, she realized with a jolt of guilt, on his hand.

"Kakashi, isn't this great?" She breathed excitedly in his ear. He nodded.

"Team seven's official mission of today is to relax and show Haku Konoha. There is an initiation period for everyone entering Konoha and he will be spending that time with you." Lord Third leaned back, smoking his pipe contentedly.

And with Iruka still gawking at her, they turned and walked out of the Hokage's office. The grin slid off her face, all the nin still gawking at her. She supposed it was a good thing as it took the spotlight off of Haku but the pointing was annoying. None of the nin dared approach her when Kakashi was right there, so she got off the hook.

That is, until they got outside.

A crowd of curious onlookers had amassed in front of the tower- all whispering and pointing and Haruhi flushed. When they spotted her some squealed in excitement and started walking up to Kakashi. This was a crowd of civilians who wouldn't be intimidated by Kakashi's rep. Wide-eyed, she didn't know what to do.

"So cute~" A woman cooed.

"Do you think he'll let us hold her?" Whispered one loudly to his friend.

"HEY! You're making Haruhi-sensei uncomfortable!" Naruto shouted. The crowd halted at Naruto's words, and started muttering to each other, obviously nothing nice. But Naruto squared his jaw bravely and stared them down until they mostly dissipated, still shooting curious glances at Haruhi. Wasting no time, she slid down into the pocket and curled up into a ball. She would have to say thank you later.

She listened in as they showed Haku around Konoha. She peeked out a couple times and instinctively pulled away when someone approached.

"And then here's the Ramen. It's the best food in the world." Naruto bragged.

"I can't say I've ever had it." Haku said. He seemed pleased enough to be here, but...something was off.

Naruto gasped in horror.

"RAMEN!" He shouted, like it explained everything."We're having Ramen!"

And then he dragged Haku off to the stools. And since Haku was everyone's mission they had no choice but to follow. Haruhi didn't recall ever having ramen either. Making sure the coast was clear she leaned out and climbed onto Kakashi's shoulder.

"Is Ramen good?" She asked Naruto.

Naruto slid off his chair, apparently dealing with many strong emotions at once. He clutched at his chest and breathed heavily.

"Dobe." Sasuke said with no real venom, which piqued Haruhi's interest for a second- until her stomach rumbled and took that away. Kakashi shot her an amused glance as she had had a pretty small breakfast this morning due to nerves.

"Why don't we find out." Kakashi said, and sat down on the stool the the left of Naruto.

"Hello and welcome to-huh!" Haruhi grinned and waved at the girl behind the counter. If these people were kind to Naruto, they couldn't be too bad. The girl went wide eyed, covering her mouth with both hands. Haruhi wondered why everyone reacted like that.

"Hi." She said breathlessly. "What's your name?"

"Haruhi." She grinned. She liked the reaction she was getting-especially from the ladies.

"RAMEN PLEASE!" Naruto bellowed. She snapped out of it and went to the back of the shop.

"What's this? Said another voice behind the counter. "Naruto, you've brought some friends with you again." Naruto blushed and grinned.

"Some of them haven't had ramen before!" He said as if this was an outrage.

"Really? Who?"

"Them!"

"There's only one."

"Hello!" Haruhi jumped down onto the counter. Ichiraku, much like his daughter, gasped in delight. His daughter peeked from around the corner.

"Can I..." He laid his palm flat.

"Sure!" Haruhi climbed on and Kakashi crossed his arms. She had no problem with being held as long as they were respectful.

"You came to my shop for Ramen?" He asked happily. She nodded. Putting her down he went to the back, talking about how he had just the thing for her. She beamed happily. Maybe this declassified thing wouldn't be too bad. She was busy beaming and waiting for whatever they brought out when talking caught her attention.

A crowd of people stood around Ichiraku's pointing and whispering at her. She sweat dropped.

At her response a few of the braver ones approached and bombarded them with questions. Kakashi was overwhelmed with the social interaction and sat there in a panic. The same with Sasuke. Naruto didn't care about them.

"Hey, One at a time!" Sakura snapped from her position in between the two boys. She seemed to be taking her position of peacekeeper to heart.

"Okay, where did you get her?"

"Can I hold her?"

"Can I borrow her sometime?"

"Awe, she's so cute!"

A man snapped his arm out towards her and Haruhi yelped and closed her eyes. A weird snapping noise caused her to look up and see an annoyed Kakashi gripping the mans arm. He didn't say anything... just glared and let him go.

Haruhi fled and hid behind the napkin dispenser only to be greeted with more cooing. For a second there she was reminded of the man who had tried to kidnap her. They were talking about her like she was a particularly smart pet and she wasn't okay with that.

"Shoo! Go unless you are going to buy Ramen. You're disturbing my customers!" Ichiraku came over, carrying bowls of ramen on each arm. The crowd again dispersed with some of the people staring in interest at the ramen.

"Thank you." Haruhi said.

Grinning, he put down a mini bowl of ramen with smaller utensils right in front of her. How considerate. She dug in along with Haku who ate more daintily than her. But that was a given. She smirked in amusement. The three genin couldn't decide whether to watch her or Kakashi.

"So you guys like it." Naruto stated, as a no answer was unacceptable. He slurped on his own ramen.

She nodded, mouth full. She grinned at Haku who smiled placatingly back at her.

"It is very good." Haku said, taking the smallest bite humanly possible.

"Yes it was." Said Kakashi, putting down his chopsticks in an empty bowl. He leaned back lazily rubbing his stomach.

"HUH!?" The genin shrieked. Kakashi's eye gleamed with mirth from under the lid but he hid it very well. Haruhi snorted into her ramen, receiving three frustrated looks from the genin. Haku carefully ate his ramen, the side of his mouth with the burn scars sloping slightly. At this, Sasuke shifted uncomfortably and went back to staring at his ramen, which he had ordered of his own accord instead of being elbowed into it. He had yet to take a bite.

Interesting.

Out of them all, Sasuke defiantly had the coldest relationship with Haku. If you could even call it that. Could it be because of the burns he sustained from Sasuke? She hummed, bringing a bit of bread to her mouth.

"I just think it's so interesting!" Sakura gushed. "I've signed myself up for small volunteer positions at the hospital, and I've been studying the human body too!" She smiled, then shot a shy look at Haruhi.

"That's great Sakura! But uh, what for?" Haruhi said.

"Oh, well..." She blushed nervously before squaring up. "I want to be a medic nin. I have the best chakra control on our team so I already have a head start."

Haruhi grinned and nodded. Kakashi voiced his approval too and to everyone's surprise, Haku spoke.

"I could help you."

"Really?" Sakura's face flushed in surprise, before she smiled. Haruhi remembered him gathering herbs in the forest.

"Yes. I was very adept at healing wounds and am very knowledgeable with herbs." He smiled again, seeming to perk up from before. Haruhi could tell healing was a passion of his.

"But Haku! I thought you were gonna be a ninja, not a medic!" Naruto whined. Sakura smacked him over the head.

"You can be both idiot!" She growled.

And then Haruhi realized the problem and had to refrain from smacking herself. Haku's eyes blanked out again, and his chopsticks hovered for a second. In order to preserve Zabuza's legacy and to protect himself as a missing nin, Haku had to come along to Konoha. And be a ninja. Something Zabuza stated destroyed him from the inside. What good was Haku coming here if he would waste away anyway? In a way, it was crueler than a Chidori to the chest.

"Haku, do you want to become a medic?"

"..."

Sakura dropped her chopsticks.

"...I...Didn't think I could. I thought I had to be a ninja. I was assigned chunin rank already." He spoke slowly.

"Well, you can go with Sakura to the hospital, see what you can do." Haruhi offered. Sakura was quick to nod her agreement. "You guys can ask Kakashi for help if you need it."

"I might be able to pull a few strings." Kakashi agreed, looking away briefly in embarrassment when Haruhi sent him a beaming smile. It was perfect. Haku was a kind soul and would see very little battle if he worked at the hospital. He could help instead of harm. It would be perfect for him.

"And Haku, I'm sure we can work together!" Sakura said, putting a hand on his shoulder before pulling it away, blushing and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

SNAP.

"Sasuke, your chopsticks!" Naruto cried out in shock. Indeed he had gripped them so tightly they broke in half. Sasuke grunted, before reaching for a new pair. Haku picked up his own pair again and dug in, humming in appreciation as he took a large bite.

"This is very good Naruto. You have excellent tastes." Haku said warmly. They continued to eat in silence for a bit, the general atmosphere picking up as Naruto slurped his noodles, opened his mouth, and spoke.

"I've been working on some cool new techniques!" He said around a mouthful of ramen.

"Naruto. Swallow." Haruhi chided.

He sheepishly swallowed before speaking again.

"I've been working on some stuff with my shadow clones." He bragged. "Let's go to the training grounds after this and I'll show you!" With that in mind, they finished their meals only to find it was on the house. Haruhi thanked them exuberantly, along with Naruto and Sakura. He smiled and nodded, before waving in the line of curious bystanders who wanted to eat at the same place the tiny woman did.

Naruto chatted animatedly all the way to the training ground, waving his hands and running circles around their group. His chatter helped distract Haruhi from the glances of the villagers. Naruto powered on through, and she couldn't help but admire him for that.

When they arrived at the training ground, it was already fully occupied. It seemed a lot of ninja had off days today.

"Next one." Kakashi said.

That one was empty. Emptier.

Naruto broke into a couple side lunges, kicking up dust. Voices picked up and what seemed like two dozen civilians were there, watching them raptly. They stood on the sidelines, talking to one another and pointing obtrusively. And getting in the way of Naruto's moves.

"Argh! We need somewhere private!" Naruto yelled, clutching his hair and shaking his head back and forth. they all stood and tried to figure out the problem when Sasuke unexpectedly spoke up.

"Follow me."

"Why?" Naruto demanded.

"...I know a place." Then, as an afterthought, added "dobe."

Naruto scowled, but followed anyway. Haruhi looked down from Kakashi's shoulder curiously as he took off after them. They plodded after him, Sasuke occasionally throwing discreet looks over his shoulder to make sure they were still there. As they moved on, it got quieter, almost...eerily so. It was a part of Konoha she had never seen before, including during all those D-ranks. As time went on, Sasuke's shoulders microscopically tensed up. He was obviously uncomfortable. They passed a row of empty houses and she felt Kakashi tense up, eye on Sasuke.

Oh.

OH.

They were heading into the Uchiha compound.

If she had been drinking something it would have been a marvelous spit-take. She hunched over and studied the houses, the silence was stifling and the genin picked up on the mood, Naruto falling mostly silent. Sasuke turned away from the row of soulless buildings, and turned towards a wooded area. Haruhi relaxed her grip on Kakashi's jacket. It seemed the mood had gotten to her too.

She actually felt bad. Out of all of team seven including Haku, she had bonded with Sasuke the least. Heck, she bonded more with Haku than Sasuke and he was on the team first! They were basically exactly how they were when they first met.

They stopped at a training ground. It had gone slightly to seed, with weeds at the edges, but otherwise was empty and fully operational. A shed with what she assumed was filled with training equipment was tucked away in the corner. Impressive almost unmarked wooden beams stood in the middle of the field.

"Wow!" Naruto yelped. "This is great Tem-uh, Sasuke!"

"Hn."

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, jerking his head and stuffing his hands in his pocket.

Naruto launched into an explanation of his jutsu.

"Here's what I came up with!" He shouted.

He formed three of himself, each clone forming a hand sign. For contrast, the two clones were wearing slightly different colors.

"Replacement jutsu!"

The two clones switched spots.

"See I can switch with myself! Replace with a clone where there's no log! Pretty neat, huh?" He grinned, looking up sheepishly.

"Yes...That is very smart of you, Naruto." Kakashi said, impressed. " Since the clones are solid and not just an illusion, they have mass and weight to them, making it entirely plausible for you to switch with them. Good job!"

"Hey if Naruto can switch with a clone, what about the others?" Haruhi asked. "Can you guys do it too?" She aimed this at the three younglings. Still impressed by Naruto's bout of cleverness, they took a moment to mull over what she said.

Sakura cracked her knuckles. As the second smallest to Naruto it was only logical she went first.

"Replacement jutsu!"

A clone stood where she once was.

"Naruto this is really clever!" Sakura said. "We could do a lot with this! You could make the clones for us and we could use the clones to get closer or farther away from an opponent. This is huge!"

Kakashi was about to burst with pride. She could feel him brimming with happiness as the four converged, thinking up ways to use the clones to their advantage.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" Haruhi said.

"Yeah." Kakashi sighed.

"-Maybe we could use the clones as bombs! Like one of us is cornered so we replace with a clone who is equipped with a tag or-"

"We henge as Naruto clones so they can't tell us apart from the clones and the real thing so they would be caught off guard and we have the advantage of surprise-"

"-What if Naruto made clones that looked like us instead of him? As decoys or doubles?"

When Haku threw out something about his clones and the mirrors Haruhi had to take a little break. All of them were so clever she had trouble keeping up. Sasuke seemed to have mostly shaken his case of the blues, and was leaning over and listening intently to something Sakura was saying. She paid attention to how the light breeze (which had picked up in the last ten minutes or so) rustled the dandelions.

Kakashi's mood dropped like a rock.

His neck muscles tightened as he scanned the treeline-which suddenly looked ominous. The gently shaking trees and the rustling scraped along her ears. The four of them were still talking loudly about their various plans and none of them seemed to notice anything was wrong or off.

Kakashi shifted, blocking her from the view of a place in the treeline where his sharp eye had rested.

"Kakashi...is it him?" She whispered.

Kakashi stood up.

"Maa maa, I think that's enough for today team!" Kakashi said, adopting his usual relaxed look. He nonchalantly placed her in his pocket and she didn't fight it. "It's time to go. That's enough for one day."

"But Kakashi-sensei, we were just getting started! Haruhi-sensei! Tell him!"

"Uh, that's enough for one day."

Kakashi's resolve strengthened with that and he firmly escorted them off the compound- taking extra care to see Sasuke to his apartment. Naruto complained loudly before asking Sasuke if they could come back. Kakashi interrupted.

"Maa, I need to be there, and none of you can be at that location by yourselves. Team rule." He said as way of explanation. Sasuke cast them a suspicious look before grunting as they waved goodbye.

As they walked home by themselves Haruhi peaked out.

"Is he gone yet?"

"Hm." He waited until he was inside to talk.

"I'm not going to lie to you Haruhi, I'm not sure who he is. If he was after Sasuke or Naruto or me I would understand, but for all intents and purposes he's after you." He was getting noticeably frustrated.

"But, how did he get inside Konoha? How has he stayed undetected for this long?"

"I don't know." He snapped, sliding against the door onto his backside.

"Well, excuse me." She snapped back. She huffed and jumped down, landing on shaky legs. She turned her back and folded her arms, nose turned up.

He sighed.

"Sorry. I just don't know who it is, or what he could possibly want with you." He ruffled his hair with one hand, the other in his lap. She relaxed her arms, angered features softening into a worried look as she glanced at him.

Then his eye turned to steel.

"But I know one thing. I won't let him get to you."

* * *

 **The poll is up now!**

 **I'd like to state a few things about Haruhi x Kakashi because I've received a few questions about their relationship. Some say it may be weird or gross but the entire point is to put a barrier in between the two-and watch them grow closer despite it. The barrier won't last forever.**

 **As I've said in previous chapters it's the definition of unconventional. If you want something more normal there are other Kakashi x oc fics. The point is to make them seem like star crossed lovers, it's part of the charm. As one of my reviewers said, it's a relationship based off of 'emotions and physical _presence_.' **

**AND I FINALLY FOUND THE FIC THAT INSPIRED THIS! It's called _The Day I Became Stranded_ By _Ten-Shi Hikari_. It's a Naruto fic in a Kakashi x oc community.**

 **Thanks to _reebajee_ for editing this! It wouldn't be nearly as good without their editing!**


	27. Alone Together

The next couple of weeks went by like this.

Naruto kept training with his clones, taking the rest of the team's suggestions to heart. He borrowed Sasuke's training grounds, having found it was an ideal place to practice his techniques. Sasuke had given his permission and often went with him as Sakura and Haku were occupied. That's where Haruhi and Kakashi spent most of their time too.

Sakura threw herself into her work with a passion never seen before, taking Haku along for the ride. She seemed to care about little else, noticeably toning down her reactions to Sasuke to the point that Haruhi (and Sasuke) were left blinking. Haku and Sakura trained endlessly and were always talking about things that even Kakashi couldn't understand sometimes. After their medical work they would all join up at Sasuke's training ground to train as a team.

Sometime during this, Kakashi found a back route to the training ground through the forests and showed team seven the path. It defiantly beat walking through the ghost town and she couldn't help but feel Sasuke was grateful to them for it.

It had sort of become their unofficial meet up place.

They had cleared out the shed and updated it with new equipment and snacks. There was even a recliner in the corner. Kakashi surprised the four pre-teens by adding new training posts and targets.

They found during one of their training sessions that Haku had the best accuracy, Sasuke being a close second. Sakura would have been third, except her throws had too little force behind them. One day Sasuke had enough of it.

"Here." Sasuke said one day, and demonstrated how to throw more forcefully. Sakura threw the kunai and hit the edge of the bulls eye. It stuck. She offered a small smile and said thank you without looking Sasuke in the eyes, being immersed in her book. Sakura and Haku had a test coming up soon and were bouncing questions off each other.

"Sakura, what do you know about the Endocrine system?" Haku asked.

"Oh!" Sakura said, beaming, and launched into an explanation. Sasuke stood stunned, Naruto snickering, before he hurtled a Shuriken so hard it cracked the wooden center.

The next day, he tied with Haku on the number of bulls-eyes they each achieved.

It didn't seem to impress Sakura, who was muttering as she read a thick medical textbook. Sasuke scowled, first at Sakura then Haku. He turned to practice off in a corner of the grounds.

"Trouble in paradise." Kakashi muttered, practically smothering himself with his book. Though not noticeable to the four, Kakashi had been in a sour mood since the second encounter with the mystery person. He had been unable to find them. Haruhi had no doubts he had his guesses, but she herself was completely baffled as to who could possibly want her. What gods had she pissed off?

Sakura was still muttering to herself, brow furrowed. Haruhi decided to see what was going on out of sheer boredom- she could only take so much more of Kakashi's sulking. Sakura had noticeably changed lately, maybe Haruhi could also pick up on why.

She walked over, picking up a pebble the size of her head. The three boys were at the other side of the grounds with Kakashi who had remorsefully put his book down to help them with something.

"Hey Sakura."

"Hello Haruhi-sensei." She said distractedly.

"Whatcha reading?"

"A medical textbook." She looked up and smiled. "We're having a test soon."

"Ah. Mind If I read on your shoulder?"

Sakura didn't mind, so she sat happily and proceeded to understand nothing of it. The graphics were entertaining though. Haruhi wanted to figure out how to approach the topic of Sakura's behavior but with her so engrossed in the textbook she wasn't sure how. She tossed the pebble to the ground and watched it jump once before halting. It wasn't like Sakura was misbehaving...

"You're pretty into that, it seems like it's been taking up a lot of your energy." Haruhi commented.

Sakura paused, smiling.

"Yeah, you noticed!"

"Yeah, what's that all about?" Haruhi asked. She smirked, noticing Sakura picking up some of her language.

"Well..." Sakura folded and unfolded the corner of the textbook. "I need to get stronger."

"Yes..."

"And so I wanted to focus on my studies. I don't have time to care about Sasuke. He's a distraction." She said in an eerie imitation of Sasuke.

"...Sakura, you're a smart girl, but that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"B-but, I wanted to be tough, like you! You don't care about anyone like that!"

"What would you know about that? How do you know how I do and don't feel?" Haruhi snapped.

"..."

She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Sakura. The absence of emotion does not make you strong. Quite the opposite in fact. The ability to care for another as much as you care for yourself is proof of a strong heart. The ability to open up like that is very powerful. Never be ashamed for caring about someone."

"But..." Sakura bit her tongue. "I'm sorry Haruhi-sensei."

"You don't need to apologize to me." Haruhi said, grinning slightly. "I think it's a phase all of us go through at some point, not wanting to care. Besides, us girls gotta stick together."

Hey...

"What happened to me helping you get Sasuke to like you?" Haruhi whisper-shouted.

Sakura chewed her lip-a nervous habit of hers. It looked like something was paining her before she spoke.

"If Sasuke likes me, then he likes me. But if he doesn't there's no point to chase him and make him uncomfortable. Like you said." Sakura said insecurely.

"Ah. Very mature of you. You still shouldn't give up though, not if that's what you want." Haruhi said. Sasuke had activated his sharingan because of Sakura. She was more important than she thought.

"Alright." Sakura said back, then snapped her textbook closed."I think that's enough reading for now." She said. She stood up and offered her hand, and they both made their way over to the four guys- who were still arguing. Haruhi's eyes swept over the four of them, finally landing on Kakashi who was holding back an enraged Naruto who was clawing for Sasuke.

Why did Sakura think that about her? About Haruhi not caring for someone else like that? She meant, it was possible!

"Hey Sasuke!"

"...?"

"Thanks for showing me how to throw better. I know a cool technique for chakra control...If you want."

"Sure." Sasuke said blandly. But his flickering eyes betrayed his excitement. The cloud of depression that had been following him around for awhile now- ever since the ramen stand- dissipated a little bit.

Naruto crowded around to watch, Kakashi having let go when he realized Naruto wouldn't attack Sasuke. Sakura showed the boys minus Haku who had already learned the same one.

All in all, a good day.

They finished up with Sasuke lacing chakra through his kunai to the point it pierced through the target and embedded itself in a tree trunk behind it.

"Wow Sasuke!" Sakura shouted.

"Hn." Sasuke said smugly, shooting a glance at Haku.

In celebration Kakashi made the surprise announcement to go get ramen. With him paying. They waited for Naruto to collect himself as he had broke into tears, before taking the back way out.

They arrived at the stand, surprised to see the worn stools from before had been replaced with newer comfier ones. The bar looked better too. Ichiraku must have hit a lucky patch then.

"Welcome back! Please have a seat!" Said Ichiraku.

The all sat down and ordered. Haruhi was cracking a joke about a super-powered kunai when a shout interrupted her punchline.

"Haruhi, Kakashi!" They shouted.

Haruhi looked up only to see a familiar face approaching. A joyful grin lightened their face like the sun and they were waving their arms.

"Kasumi, hey!" Haruhi yelled back.

The old woman never looked younger, lines disappearing under her grin.

"Haruhi. You have single-handedly given me the best business month of my entire life!"

What.

Her confused expression must have shown because Kasumi laughed again.

"It's you! The dolls are flying off the shelves! Everyone's heard of you and they stopped at my shop. I'm here to deliver your money." She pulled out a thick envelope and placed it at her feet on the counter.

"Bye!" Said Kasumi, who waved and hurried off.

"..."

"Kakashi, I'm paying." Haruhi said.

"Alright." Said Kakashi, sounding a bit stupefied.

The four were confused before shrugging and eating their ramen.

"Hey Billboard brow!"

What now?

"Ino." Said Sakura, more invested in her ramen. Haruhi perked up at this. Sakura's rival. If Haruhi played her cards right she could bounce the girls off each other to help them improve.

"Huh, and you call me a pi-OH!" Screamed Ino, pointing at Haruhi. "So cute!"

Haruhi paused her chewing, shooting a bread filled grin at Ino that had Naruto cackling and Kakashi rolling his eyes fondly.

"She's just like Choji!"

"Somebody call?" Said a thick voice.

A round kid walked in munching on a bag of chips. Two others followed behind him, both with hands in their pockets. Cheeks bulging, Haruhi waved and hid behind the napkin dispenser. This was too many people for her tastes.

"She was just there!"

Somebody lifted the napkins revealing Haruhi in all her glory, crouched and working on a piece of bread the size of her head. She swallowed thickly and waved.

Shikamaru's jaw dropped and the normally relaxed boy looked like he couldn't believe it. She just wanted to eat her bread.

"So the rumors are true." Mused Asuma. "Who's this?" He said, gesturing to Haku.

"I'm Haku. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said charmingly. The side of his face that was facing them had no burn scars on it, so none of them reacted strongly. Sasuke didn't greet anyone, looking down into his barely eaten ramen. Choji blushed and rapidly shoveled chips in his mouth.

"Well, we have to go. We're not done with our mission yet." Asuma said around his cigarette.

"Aw." Pouted Ino.

"See you later!" Said Haruhi. They looked surprised she actually spoke, but waved nonetheless as they left. Kakashi pulled money from the envelope and paid for their meals-but not before Haruhi strong armed him into it.

Everyone went home.

They ran into Team Asuma again around Konoha and even trained together a few times. Shikamaru asked many questions and Haruhi answered as best as she could. It was only fitting as she had piqued a Nara's interest. Ino and Sakura glared at each other, and were constantly competing. Though not as bad as before. In a talk inspired by Haruhi's clothes, they managed to get through a conversation without any hostility.

Haku was unsure around these new people. When they saw the burned side of his face one day when it was particularly windy, the gasps were audible. She didn't know why she noticed, but Sasuke turned away and went to throw kunai. In an effort to comfort Haku, Ino struck up a conversation about his hair care routine, Sakura and Haruhi joining in.

Seriously, she needed to know.

And while everyone from both teams grew closer...Sasuke grew more distant. He barely even 'hn'ed' anymore, and preferred to train on his own. She wasn't the only one to notice, if the side looks from everyone but Naruto were anything to go by.

Haruhi was getting worried-if only because Sasuke could turn violent, like he did in canon. That was a bit of a stretch, considering he was still a genin, but still...

Was this even canon?

Haruhi didn't know. To Sakura's credit, she didn't give him the cold shoulder anymore and instead chatted with him. Sasuke had been in a bad mood all week so Sakura was brave to try and strike up a conversation. At first he made an effort to listen, then he just tolerated her. And then a muscle twitched in his jaw. Sakura was getting flustered and kept on chatting until Sasuke snapped at her.

"Will you shut up?"

"Don't talk to Sakura like that Teme!" Naruto growled.

"Honestly Sasuke?!" said an exasperated Haruhi.

Sakura stood up without saying another word and left with Haku. Sasuke growled in frustration, leaving Naruto, her and Kakashi alone in the field. He took his storm cloud with him and the mood noticeably brightened.

"What was that all about?" Haruhi asked.

Naruto shrugged and Kakashi stayed silent.

They left soon after. The mission of the day and training was over so they had nothing else to do. Haruhi frowned, trying to figure out what was wrong. Sasuke wasn't like Sakura. You couldn't just go up to him and ask and expect to get an answer. He was emotionally constipated and that was about as nice as Haruhi could frame it.

A sweet smell tickled her nose and she looked up from her place on the counter. Kakashi was stooped over the open oven, bringing a tray of cookies and it's sweet smell into the kitchen. He was humming under his breath-a tune she recognized as she had been humming it before.

"Are those sugar cookies?" She gasped.

"Mh-hmm."

He placed them to the left of her then picked one up and gave it to her. She was able to hold it easily enough seeing as she had regained most of her strength, and nibbled on the part closest to her face.

"Thanks, but why did you bake them?"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.

"Maa, you were frowning." He said. Then curiously added "Why?"

She swallowed her cookie bite thoughtfully.

"Sasuke."

"Hmm?"

"Sasuke. I was thinking about him."

"Ah." He said in understanding.

"Kakashi, what's up with him? He's been snapping at everyone more than usual. He's been moody lately too."

Kakashi didn't respond. She looked up to see his cheeks bulging under the mask, having shoved five sugar cookies in at once. She smirked and took a bite of her own cookie.

"I agree. He has been acting up lately."

"I figured it was because of Haku. Maybe he's jealous of him?"

"Possible." He hummed. He seemed to be turning over something before gulping down his mouthful of cookies "I hope it won't be a problem." He added abruptly.

"What?"

"I need to go to a meeting now, and you'll be staying the night at Sasuke's."

"WHAT? Right now?!"

"Right now." He said determinedly.

Kakashi picked her up like she was going to bite him and honestly she was tempted.

They were out the window before she could blink. With hair in her face she wiped it away, to see them bounding over rooftops towards the better apartments in Konoha. She gritted her teeth and clutched on to the edge of the pocket. In what seemed like seconds they were sliding in through a window into an empty hallway. It was obviously an upper class apartment complex, with paintings hung in the hallways and a polished wooden floor. Door's with numbers on them lined the wall.

Haruhi felt immediately out of place.

Kakashi quietly approached and knocked on a door tucked behind a fancy small table. They waited in silence and Haruhi could feel the person behind the door standing there in suspicion. It slid open.

"Here watch her." Kakashi almost slurred because he spoke so fast, shoving a disoriented Haruhi into Sasuke's hands. He was gone quicker than either of them could blink.

"What?" Sasuke said tonelessly. Stunned, Haruhi couldn't respond.

The hallway was dark as they looked on and the apartment, if possible, was even darker. He stared blankly at her and Haruhi shivered in the cool hallway, rubbing her arms. She tried for a weak smile but it faltered as she caught sight of him. He looked the worst he had in weeks, smudges under his eyes and sallow pale skin. He seemed to be looking right through her and just before Haruhi spoke up, he turned around and into his apartment, closing the door behind him.

His apartment was stale and tasteless in the way that was completely uninspiring. There were very few objects and the furniture looked to be mostly unused. The apartment reminded her of something...

It was big but empty, with no personal items and what seemed to be greasy takeout in the trash.

She really didn't know how to act around Sasuke and he didn't seem to either. He was showing signs of life by glancing around his dull living space and then at her. His previously glazed over eyes seemed to be thawing and was he...chewing his tongue?

The fact that she could empathize with him affected her more then it should have.

"You can stay in here." He said in a faint voice, tinged with unsureness.

Okay, she was a bit freaked out now.

Sasuke looked terrible and was acting differently than normal. Seeing the the cold boy showing so much doubt and the vaguely lost expression on his face spooked her. He placed her on the unused couch, before retreating to another room-glancing at the clock as he left. 9:27.

Haruhi tossed and turned, playing over their short interaction. She punched her thigh, wishing she had at least said thank you for letting her sleep here. His troubled expression played over in her mind and she buried her face into the cushion. She wanted to know what was bothering him and not just because she was curious. She wanted to help.

Time passed like molasses. Slowly and thickly. Hair stuck to her neck. Her thigh itched. Her elbow fell asleep.

Sasuke had been in a depressive state all week and Haruhi figured it was because of Haku. Because he had better aim than him or because he seemed to have captured Sakura's attention. Or maybe even because of Sasuke's lack of personal progress when everyone else on his team was improving- even Sakura.

Now, she wasn't so sure.

She flung herself onto her back. Kakashi's sudden departure was now the furthest thing from her mind. She kept replaying the image of Sasuke training by himself in the corner of the grounds over and over again. His unease had been going on for weeks now. Possibly even longer. How she hadn't noticed this baffled her, made her feel like a jerk.

She grunted and rolled herself onto her back.

And despite whatever was bothering him, despite for how long it has been bothering him, he took the time to show them the Uchiha's official training grounds because he knew it would give them privacy and a place to train.

She sat up and hugged her knees.

A gasp came from the other room, loud as thunder in the silence and she snapped to attention. His door swing open as he staggered to the kitchen sink. At first Haruhi thought he was thirsty for a glass of water, but instead he took his trembling hands and placed them on either side of the digital clock, the numbers glowing in the dark. He looked as if he was trying to alter it by staring hard enough. His glassy pupil-less eyes glowed green with how wide open they were.

He whispered something to himself.

Sasuke should not be alone tonight.

"Sasuke." She said as loud as she could without shouting.

He jumped and his hand twitched to his side like he was reaching for a weapon.

"Haruhi-sensei." He said tersely. He looked like a deer in the headlights, unsure of going back to his room, maybe not wanting to.

"Come over here." She said.

He reluctantly walked over and sat as far away from her as possible. Haruhi searched for a way to begin a conversation.

"Sasuke, how's your progress with the Sharingan?"

He started, as if not expecting her to ask. "...Good."

"That's good. What do you think about everyone else's progress?"

He took a few moments to respond.

"They're all doing well."

Haruhi bit her lip in frustration.

"What about Haku? How do you think he's adjusting?...What do you think about him?"

Haruhi waited with baited breath.

"..."

"Haku…" Sasuke began, "in the woods when he was talking about his precious people...I thought about two things." He murmured. "My family, and team seven. The reason I got the Sharingan was because Sakura is prec-means something to me. You really do become stronger when you have something to protect." Near the end it seemed as if he was talking more to himself then her.

She thought, if this was any other time, any other place, Sasuke would not have opened up like this. But he was unstable and vulnerable and needed someone to talk too.

"But when I realized who Haku was with, I got really angry-like he betrayed me. And that was nothing compared to when I thought he killed Sakura. I burned him and scarred him, but all along he was the good guy, he didn't kill Sakura and he taught me a lesson. I was...wrong." He seemed to wrestle the last word out of his mouth.

He was feeling guilty. He wasn't jealous. Haruhi knew she needed to say something. It was about to burst from her lips.

"It just shows you shouldn't judge people without knowing their motives or having a good reason too. It was an easy mistake to make, Sasuke. One I made too. I judged you before I really knew you and didn't bother to try and get to know you. I made that mistake but I have no excuse. I'm sorry."

His bangs shadowed his eyes.

"You were always like that." He muttered. "You always said and did little things. I knew you liked me the least."

She flinched.

"At Tazuna's, you said you expected better of Naruto when we were...behaving badly. But you said it like you expected me to be that way. "

She did do that, didn't she.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Then so lowly she could have imagined it, he said " I did the same thing to Sakura."

"What do you mean?" Haruhi said.

"I thought she was a dumb girl. I disregarded her higher writing score. I thought she was worthless. But she took that hit for me on the bridge when I had my back turned. Figured things out before me or Naruto. And now..."

"Yeah, she sure is something." Haruhi whispered.

"I feel like I'm being left in the dust." He clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on his knees. He unconsciously copied her position.

"Sasuke, others improving doesn't mean you aren't. You've changed since I first met you. You smile more, you enjoy yourself even. You work with your team. Improvement isn't just strength or who has the coolest jutsu. You, are a better person then you were two months ago. So am I. Be proud, Sasuke."

He sat still, obviously chewing on something.

"I need to get stronger though." He whispered.

"...Why?"

"That man. I need to avenge my clan and I need to be stronger than everyone else."

"Avenge?"

"I need to kill a man, and for that I need to leave everyone else in the dust."

Hearing a twelve year old talk so matter of factly about death was very off-putting but she didn't let it get in the way of listening to him.

"Sasuke, you have enormous potential and I believe you can do anything you set your mind too. But we're a team. You shouldn't be afraid to ask for help."

"..."

Sensing the need for a change of subject, she licked her lips.

"Remember what I said before about trying to find out motives, who they actually are? Why did he?" She said carefully.

"...Because he was testing himself. Because he could. I thought I knew him." Sasuke mumbled, hands spasming.

That was a load of shit.

"Before you kill this man-hear me out-try to find out why. That just seems...suspicious. What was Kakashi's quote again?"

"...See underneath the underneath." He blinked. Then glanced at the clock. 11:57. He had stopped trembling, the haunted look in his eyes was replaced by a thoughtful one. He removed his hands from his knees and placed them at his side.

"You know Sasuke, I thought you were avoiding Haku for different reasons." She said.

"Hn?"

"I thought you were mad because he was taking up Sakura's attention." She grinned.

Color returned to his pale sallow cheeks for the first time in weeks in the form of a blush. He bowed his head before looking at the clock. 12:00. Tension leaked from his frame and his legs relaxed and fell sideways, his knee landing close to her.

"You wish." He scoffed turning up his nose.

"Well...it's pretty late. Do you have anything else to say?"

"No-"

"Hello all!"

"KAKASHI!?" They both shouted in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Haruhi choked.

"Me?" He asked, pointing at himself. "Well, the meetings over of course!" He laughed, rubbing his hair. "Time to go."

"Okay then." She said, blinking her heavy eyes. She and Sasuke looked at each other and she gave him a small smile. They had just had a big moment. She was gratified to see his lips twitch into what might have been a smile. Grinning she stood up on Kakashi's hand.

Good night! Or should I say...good morning." She wiggled her eyebrows.

Sasuke snorted then bit his lip as Kakashi jumped, and Sasuke was out of sight in a matter seconds. They traveled thoughtfully for a few moments. Haruhi wondered why Sasuke kept on staring at the clock. What was he waiting for?

"You know," Kakashi began, "I have met very few people as gifted with words as you are. The only other I can name right now would be Naruto."

Good with words? But she hadn-

"You were listening in the whole time! The meeting was a farce! You just wanted me to talk to Sasuke!" Of course Kakashi wouldn't leave her alone with Sasuke with a kidnapper on the loose!

"That was good of you, Haruhi to stay with him. Especially today. Or should I say yesterday." He mused, imitating her earlier joke and ignoring her outburst.

"What do you mean?"

"Last night was the anniversary of his clan's death."

"..."

"That meant a lot to him. Even if he didn't show it." Kakashi said.

Haruhi finally realized what Sasuke's apartment reminded her of. Kakashi's house when she first saw it. Cold, empty, mechanical, lifeless.

They would just have to fix that.

* * *

Extra~

"Hey Haku." Said Sasuke evenly, kicking dirt from the training ground. "Could you show me some tips for throwing senbon?"

Haku blinked once, then twice, before a slightly crooked smile graced his face.

"Of course."

* * *

 **I did say I would be developing Sasuke's character. In a few chapters the chunin exams are coming up and don't forget to vote on the poll!**

 **How did you feel about Haruhi's speech to Sasuke? What was the best quote of this chapter? And how do you think team seven will improve because of it?**

 **Many thanks to my beta reader** ** _reebajee_**


	28. Girl Troubles

It was a normal day at the training grounds.

Or what they thought was normal.

Naruto was doing something with his shadow clones-a combination attack it seemed like with some sort of wind jutsu. Kakashi had brought chakra paper a week ago so the genin could find out their elemental nature. Haku already knew- water and wind, and because of his bloodline he had an ice affinity too. Sasuke was fire(with lighting), Naruto was wind, And Sakura was water too. Naruto was beside himself with excitement and immediately demanded to learn an elemental jutsu.

Haku didn't need any help, and neither did Sasuke as he had his fireball jutsu. The two of them went to practice their aim. Haku was still marginally better than Sasuke, but Sasuke took it very well considering his reaction a week ago. He was more open now, noticeably less hostile and easier to work with. The only thing Haruhi spotted that could be considered off in a bad way was his extreme thoughtfulness now. He was mulling something over. Ever since she had that talk with him.

Naruto was practicing right now, and Sakura was resting up against a tree, an oddly pinched look on her face.

That was never good.

Boys being boys, didn't really notice and if they did, chalked it up to Sakura's frustration with her water jutsu's. Due to her small reserves, Kakashi had given her exercises to increase her reserve and already phenomenal control.

But Haruhi had a feeling that wasn't what was getting her down.

"Hey Sasuke, what are you doing?"

Sasuke had packed his gear up and appeared to be heading out. He stiffened at Naruto's question before relaxing, self-assurance flitting across his face.

"I joined a history group and We're going to the museum. I want to learn more." The 'about my clan' was left unsaid.

"Sounds great!" Haruhi grinned, and Sasuke smirked (smiled) back at her. While they had yet to bring the talk up, their relationship had dramatically improved. It piqued her interest. She didn't know konoha had museums.

Kakashi peeked over the rim of his book with an appraising eye, sizing up Sasuke and hummed his approval. Haruhi had chewed him out for tricking her like that but after many apologies and seeing how better Sasuke was after it, she had let it go. Plus he had given her another cookie. Sasuke's eye-bags were all but gone, his skin was still pale but held color now, and a healthy glow had returned to his once sallow skin.

"Sakura, maybe you would like it?" Sasuke asked, turning to look at her curled by the tree.

Sakura burst into tears.

Shoulder shaking sobs exploded from her lips and wails rose and fell like the wind or a Banshee. She smothered her face in her hands and pressed her knees to her stomach and continued caterwauling.

Sasuke was completely caught off guard, frozen in shock. A guilty look crossed his face and he opened and closed his mouth.

Then Kakashi started freaking out right next to her.

"What?" She said, bewildered and worried about all the sudden freaking out. He gripped his voluminous hair with both hands and his one eye popped in horror but more than anything what told her to worry was the fact he let Icha Icha drop in the dirt.

Sakura got up and ran away, clutching her stomach with both hands.

Oh.

FUCK.

Haruhi started freaking out and then Haku ran and so did Sasuke and Naruto was screaming for someone to tell him what was going on. She was about to start yelling for everyone to chill out when the breath was stolen from her when Kakashi scooped her up and started running in the direction Sakura went.

He was mumbling rapidly under his breath.

"Fixherfixherfixherfixher-"

Kakashi skidded to a stop in front of a row of houses. People startled at their sudden arrival, clutching their bags and children closer as they eyed the crazy Kakashi. He rapidly knocked on a door and when Sakura answered, tears still on her face and a hand on her stomach, Haruhi was unceremoniously shoved her way and then Kakashi ran, gone in a second, leaving her in Sakura's free hand with the street staring at them.

"Close the door!" She whispered, beyond embarrassed. That Kakashi! He did it again! Why does he shove all the hard stuff on her?! She was gonna wring his neck!

As she fumed Sakura sniffled miserably. Haruhi snapped out of it. That would come later.

"Sakura sweetheart, what do you know about...uh." She stuttered.

"We just learned ab-about how to hide the scent of b-blood and the symptoms! Not what to do! Haruhi-sensei! My parents are out of town." She wailed.

So education was shitty here to. Huh.

"Okay it'll be fine."

"I"m bleeding! And my stomach hurts really really bad! Worse than that time I got stabbed!"

"Honey, do you have rice?"

"How wou-yeah."

"Get an old big clean sock and fill it with rice. Then put it in the microwave."

Though confused, Sakura sniffled and walked with one hand on her stomach and the other holding Haruhi. The house was tasteful and seemed larger than it was with the airy curtains and spaced furniture. Pictures of a younger Sakura with her parents sat on the mantel. The walls were a light cheerful pink and she was delighted they matched Sakura's hair.

They walked up a carpeted staircase and turned left into a room with a king bed in it. She knelt and winced, digging in a drawer to pull out and old white sock. They tromped back downstairs and Sakura filled it with rice and put it in for 85 seconds.

It dinged.

"Um, what now Haruhi-sensei?"

Haruhi was unexpectedly filled with a burst of warmth for Sakura to trust her so much as to do this without knowing why. When Haruhi had first gotten her cycles, she had been the same age as Sakura. She was too embarrassed to go to her dad, her friends didn't have theirs yet, she had no siblings, and her Mother was away again. She wouldn't let Sakura go through this by herself.

"Press it to your lower stomach. It'll help with the cramps."

"Okay...Um, why does it help?"

Haruhi cracked her neck.

"You know how's there are cracks in sidewalks? That's because in the summer they expand. Heat makes things expand and relax. Period cramps are just your muscles clenching up so tightly you can feel it. By putting the hot pack against your muscles you are getting them to relax-therefore stopping the cramps."

Sakura absorbed every word like a sponge and Haruhi had the delirious thought this must be what it felt like to be a medical textbook.

"It does feel better." She said.

"Good. Do you have any pads or tampons?"

Sakura blushed.

"I used up my mom's. I think I have one more."

"And when are your parents coming back?"

"In a week."

Haruhi shook her head. That simply wouldn't do.

"Put on the last one and then dress comfortably. We're going shopping."

Sakura nodded and went off with her rice filled sock to the bathroom and changed. She walked out wearing long pants and a T-shirt.

"Warm up the sock one more time, get your money and let's go shopping for what you need. " Haruhi said confidently.

As Sakura nodded and moved to obey orders Haruhi turned around and bit her lip. The lord have mercy on her. A thought struck her out of the blue and her heartbeat accelerated.

When was the last time she got her period?

It ended a day before she arrived here. She was a month and a half overdue. She had a history of irregular periods and it could be chalked up to the stress of dimension hopping, but if it didn't show it's ugly face soon she would have to say something to Kakashi, as awkward as it would be.

"I'm ready."

"Let's go."

The people had moved on by the time Sakura locked the front door and they shuffled out. She was wearing comfortable, loose dark clothes like Haruhi had instructed and had taken a couple sips of water before they left.

"Let's go to the nearest pharmacy or multi-purpose store."

Sakura nodded, her face flushing with embarrassment. Haruhi made a mental list of what Sakura would need to gets-Pads, Tampons, possibly more rice, painkillers, facial cream if her face broke out, light foods if she got nauseous, chocolate, and herbal tea. Maybe look at the right clothes too. Something dark and baggy.

The bells dinged on the store which had the distinct smell of a pharmacy. A stand of snacks was to their left and a pyramid of cans a little beyond that. In the back of the store was the counters.

Sakura sniffled again and darted to in one of the isles.

"I'm sorry Haruhi-sensei. I can't stop crying."

"That's fine. Some girls just get more emotional."

"Oh."

"I'm sure you can check out textbooks about it." Haruhi said not unkindly. "Grab a shopping basket first."

Sakura grabbed a shopping basket.

"Let's look at the hygiene products first."

They browsed through the store and Haruhi was struck with the fact this was actually happening. She took a deep breath. It wasn't like it was worse than being shrunk into another dimension.

"B-billboard brow!"

"Pig!?"

Uh oh. This was the last thing Sakura needed right now. She looked away from the prices to find Ino staring in surprise at Sakura. Not glaring, just caught off guard.

"What are you doing here?" Ino asked, flustered.

"Well, what are you doing here?" Sakura said defensively.

Both of them looked at each other, then at the wall of pads and tampons at the same time.

Sakura swallowed.

"You too?" Sakura said evenly.

Ino started crying and Haruhi took a deep, calming, breath. She was gonna get Kakashi. He would never hear the end of this. Ino was talking between huge, breathless airy sobs.

"My mom is gone, e-everyones busy, I don't know-"

"Sakura has the same problem so you can come with us." Haruhi said calmly.

Sakura nodded fairly. Ino looked like she was about to cry again but pulled herself together. Haruhi didn't know a lot about finance here so she let the girls work out the prices and told them which ones to get depending on their physical activities and ones to use overnight.

"Thank you, Haruhi-sensei." Ino said after a particularly helpful piece of advice.

They were giggling over one of the packages of pads(which featured a woman in a white sundress) when Haku turned the corner, shopping basket tucked in his arm).

"Oh, Hey, Haku!" Sakura giggles, in a better mood now. The marred side of Haku's face was hidden by a sheet of choppy hair.

Haku was staring wide eye at the three of them, Hand in a basket full of noodle cups, before smiling.

"Good afternoon, Haruhi sensei, Sakura-chan, and…"

"You can call me Ino."

"Good afternoon, Ino."

His eyes trailed from the wall of pads and tampons to the three of them. It was a strange look, like the feminine hygiene products were about to bite him, but he couldn't look away from them. His eyes would flicker to the three of them, then to the pads, and back to the floor in rapid succession.

In a mischievous mood, Haruhi smirked and spoke. She wondered if Haku would be freaked out by pads like some other guys were. He didn't seem like the type but it would be funny all the same.

"Haku, you want to join us?"

He jumped, head whipping to her.

"No Haruhi-sensei! He's a boy, this is a girls trip!"

Ino nodded, and Haruhi shrugged.

"Bye Haku."

Haku left rather quickly after that.

They stopped to get some snacks, face cream, and painkillers. Combining their money they were able to afford it. The girls were giggling and Ino stole Sakura's rice sock for a bit.

"We should name it." She declared, her mood having picked up. "I say Socky."

"Riceball." Sakura said.

"Ralph." Haruhi said.

They gave her weird looks.

"What?" Haruhi said defensively.

They giggled before looking at the labels on the chocolate. They had already gotten into the painkillers and their relief from the cramps was palpable. Sakura opened her front door then flopped down on her couch.

Ino ripped open the pads and locked herself in the bathroom.

"Sakura, maybe you could get Ino her own rice-sock." Haruhi said around a square of chocolate the size of her head. Sakura made a few awkward movements trying to get up but managed to stand. Haruhi showed her how to side-step up the stairs by mimicking the action on the living room carpet. Sakura came back down with a matching sock just as Ino walked out of the bathroom.

"What's that?" She asked.

"You can fill it up with rice for your own hot pack." Sakura said.

Ino seemed to think that was a good idea, dumping rice in, tying it, then throwing it in the microwave.

"So Sakura, I see you're training to be a medical ninja." Ino said.

"Yeah, I am."

"I asked my dad if I could, so I'm getting a spot at the hospital too. Maybe we'll see each other."

Tension sparked between them and Haruhi bit back a sigh. These two could be just as bad as Naruto and Sasuke.

"I won't let you win!" Sakura hissed.

"Same!" Ino hissed back.

"Emotions are running high today." Haruhi noted, but was ignored.

"Just because you're getting stronger doesn't mean Sasuke will like you!" Ino spat.

Whoa.

Sakura looked hurt for a second before she welled up in fury.

"Girls girls!" Haruhi shouted. "Let's think for a second! You're both amazing. There's no need for this."

"Yes there is!" They snapped at the same time.

Haruhi shook her head.

"Look at you two, how much fun you had despite what is going on! You were able to help each other and make yourselves feel better! That's priceless and no boy can replace that. Compete if you want to, but that's no reason you can't be friends too." Haruhi declared hotly.

Ino and Sakura reluctantly looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

"It's possible." Said Haruhi, thinking about Kakashi and Gai.

"Yeah, that's true." Sakura said.

"Sorry-billboard brow."

"Pig."

Haruhi sighed.

…

They argued for a bit more before coming up with something light to eat.

They warmed up two cans of chicken noodle soup for lunch that they had bought, the light broth good for their stomachs, since they were upset.

The put some soup for Haruhi in a bottle cap on the table.

Haruhi happily ate her soup. She felt better about eating whe the portion size was about what it should be for her. But she couldn't help but notice the girls picking on their food. She assumed it was because they were nauseous, because neither of them had eaten since breakfast-which was hours ago.

"Are your stomachs upset?" Haruhi asked them. She lost her appetite while on her period and got nauseous too, but she was speaking from experience when she said eating something normally made her feel better.

Sakura bit her lip and Ino flipped her hair.

"Well…" Sakura said.

Haruhi raised an eyebrow.

"I know that your stomachs might be upset, but you'll feel better with something in you. It will raise your blood sugar."

Ino and Sakura exchanged a look.

"It's just that this soup has a lot of calories." Ino said.

Haruhi blinked. Then blinked again only to see Sakura nodding to what Ino had just said.

"What."

The girls looked away nervously.

"This is a lot, Haruhi-sensei. I'll feel bad if I eat so much." Sakura said.

Oh.

The girls were worried about eating too much. Instead of scoffing or telling them to stop being dumb girls, Haruhi's heart softened instead.

She was the same when she was their age. Haruhi was always a bigger girl who enjoyed cooking, and that was reflected with her size. She was a favorite for bullies due to that. She used to feel like Play-Doh being squeezed through a child's fingers.

She would often 'diet' and set a goal to eat less than a 1,000 calories a day. That was extremely unhealthy, especially since she was a growing child. It led to dizziness and dropping grades.

Even now that she was an adult, she still had times where she would feel guilty and gross for eating more than she thought she should.

"What do you mean by eat too much, Sakura? Ino?"

"Well, you know…"

Haruhi did know, but she wanted to hear it from them.

"It won't be good for our figure." Ino finally said, sounding remarkable unsure for such a confident girl.

Haruhi chewed on her lip.

"Girls, you're Kunoichi, right?"

"Um, Yeah."

"Yes."

"And your both young and growing, right?"

"Yes."

"And young growing girls, especially girls who lead the physically taxing life of ninja should eat healthy, and should eat more than once a day, right?"

"..."

The girls blinked and averted their eyes.

Haruhi sighed.

"I know what it's like to be ashamed of yourself and how you look. I think it's something all women go through in their lives. But depriving yourself of necessary nutrients in a vital time in your growth won't help anyone."

"B-but, if I become fat, Sasuke-kun won't like me!"

That was Ino.

"Ino, Sasuke doesn't care what you look like. He's really not interested in looks. If he was, do you think he'd be friends with Naruto?"

Sakura wisely kept silent, having already had the 'Sasuke talk' with Haruhi.

"Well, what does he care about then!" Ino said, face flushed.

"Sasuke cares about strength. He cares about people who see Sasuke as Sasuke, not a prize. He needs friends. He doesn't need or frankly want a wife right this second."

Ino gaped in shock, looking hurt.

"This isn't an attack on you Ino, or you Sakura. But being healthy and eating a good diet is extremely important for growing ninja. While I'm not a Kunoichi, I think the other graduating team has a female sensei. You can ask her what to eat."

"But…" Sakura trailed off.

"There's no shame in wanting to look better. It's still possible to be pretty and be a Kunoichi. I know this might be some competition between the two of you, but how about instead of competing to see who can eat less, we see who can eat the healthiest and be the strongest kunoichi?"

Ino nodded slowly.

Haruhi sighed again.

"Look...girls, I understand the urge to restrict, and to slim down. I felt the same way when I was your age, and sometimes I still do. But this isn't healthy, and will probably even backfire on you. I would know. Ino, you said you wanted to be a medic too?"

Ino said yes.

"Well, a big part of being a medic is knowing what's best to eat for the human body. What is best for the human body. How about you and Sakura, since she's also studying to be a medic, go and buy a few books on nutrition. You can learn how to stay slim in a healthy way, and eat properly. Doesn't that sound good?"

"Yes."

Yeah."

The girls made plans to meet up again and study to be medics. Haruhi was gratified when they picked up their spoons again.

When Kakashi came to get her, she was almost disappointed she had to go.

Almost.

Pre-teens were very annoying.

* * *

"I cannot believe you shoved me off like that! Again! I'm beginning to believe you don't want me!"

"Maa maa! I do!"

"Maa yourself!"

Haruhi growled, crossing her arms. Kakashi withered into the bench under a tree. Her scowl slipped into an upset frown and her arms uncrossed to play with the ends of her shirt.

"I'll make it up to you."

She raised an eyebrow.

He laid his palm flat and she sighed and shook her head, deciding to humor him for a bit. Climbing on she flopped onto her back. After Ino and Sakura came to a truce most of the tension melted away and they bonded over their shared misery. They even chatted about bringing Hinata into this when she got hers. Haruhi wouldn't mind that.

Haruhi left with Kakashi. It was dusk and clouds dappled the horizon and she could tell they were minutes away from a spectacular light show.

"Hold on."

She slipped into the pocket and grabbed the flap as he jumped up the face of the mountains.

Gravel didn't crunch as Kakashi landed, although that was to be expected. Trees faded away as they approached the cliff-face and her eyes squinted at the light. Clouds coated the sky like meringue, and the rock of the mountain was cast in an orange glow. Everything was and it gave Kakashi's hair a rose-gold tint. It was very distracting.

Konoha's lights flickered on like fireflies but it did nothing to dampen the moment.

At some point Kakashi had sat down-careful not to disturb Haruhi on his shoulder.

She sat on his shoulder and he looked on, attention divided between her and the darkening sky. Her eyes glowed under her glasses and the smile she was wearing was very pretty- sweet with enjoyment of the view.

"Say Kakashi." Haruhi murmured, her slight smile quirking.

"Buh?" He said distractedly.

"Why do they call me sensei? What do I do?"

His stared blearily at her until he realized she had asked a question. His gaze sharpened as he mulled it over.

"...While you may not teach them how to fight, they still learn from you."

"Can you elaborate?"

"Naruto learned to talk to people, to keep his emotions in check. Haku learned he had a purpose in himself. Sasuke learned how to open up, to communicate and trust in his teammates, but most of all to cope. And Sakura improved the most of all. She learned how to value herself, to treat her teammates fairly, and to improve. Not to mention today. You may not be teaching them jutsu's, but what you are teaching them is just as important."

"W-wow." She stuttered.

Kakashi blushed and rubbed his head.

* * *

Sakura was acting funny again.

It had been five days since her spontaneous crying episode and everyone was still walking on eggshells around her. So her sideways glances and shuffling around had the hair on their arms standing on end.

Sakura took a deep breath, looking at Haruhi and everyone flinched.

"My-My parents heard how you helped me and they want to meet you! And Team Seven! They're arranging a dinner and they've invited you all!" Sakura blurted.

All activity halted.

Oh boy.

* * *

Haha, This was kind of a crack chapter but I hope you enjoyed regardless!

The poll is closed! And the official name Is Harushi!

Anyway school starts literally tomorrow so it'll be awhile before my next update. I'm also planning on going back and editing chapters cause we all know they need to be touched up.

Many thanks to reebajee.


	29. Before Dinner Jitters

It had taken months of pondering for Haruhi to realize something vital about Kakashi. When she realized it, she had squealed, clasped her hands together and wiped a tear away.

Let me explain.

It had happened late at night, with her belly grumbling loudly enough to wake her up. She blinked open heavy eyes hoping she hadn't woken Kakashi. Haruhi stared at the underside of the huge dresser as her eyes adjusted before she slipped onto the carpet. Kakashi snorted and turned over and she breathed a sigh of relief as she squeezed under the door and snuck into the kitchen.

She rubbed her arms in apprehension as she made her way into the dark kitchen. Her gaze strayed to the bookshelf for a second and she twitched, an imaginary man sneaking through the window.

She climbed the staircase to the countertop and plucked a green grape. She crunched through the green skin and sighed at the cool sweetness dribbling down her chin. As she finished her grape her eyes kept being drawn back to the books as if by a magnet, specifically to the part where the sliding door was covering the other side of it. She had never actually seen what was on the other side…

Finishing her grape, she ran down the steps and over to the shelf, looking up with apprehension at the window. She quickly climbed the tassel and approached the spot where her old bed had been. Just a little beyond that was the big book hindering her from going any further. She pushed a paperback out of the way.

No dice.

In an 'ah ha' moment, she jumped down and ran to the front of the door. She wedged a wooden bookmark in between the door and the shelf and leant on it. It cracked open the tiniest bit-just enough for her to sneak in. She squinted her eye but could barely see anything. Feeling with her hands she patted until she found the spine of a book. Looking closer she read the title.

Icha Icha Vacation.

She had found Kakashi's secret stash.

Just what the heck made those books so interesting anyway!? She had read over (On) Kakashi's shoulder a few times but she always looked away and got bored. The smut was only okay. But he seemed to be enthralled by it. Haruhi was pretty sure he was a virgin because only virgin's got that excited with poorly written smut.

Haruhi didn't mean that in a mean way, but it made sense.

Determined, she squeezed out and pushed off of a book to shut it again and dashed to their room.

Kakashi was exhausted. She could not state that hard enough. After Sakura had dropped the bomb (The dinner) earlier that morning the other three had gotten hyped up. They demanded a training session and Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Haku against Kakashi with their improved skills and teamwork had been a real challenge.

She snuck back in with little fanfare, taking a moment to smile at sleeping Kakashi before climbing up the bed sheets and over to his nightstand. The faithful orange book rested there next to the turned off lamp.

She cracked open the cover and silently turned the pages, frowning as she realized Icha Icha wasn't what it seemed to be.

It was not, solid porn as most thought. In fact, it read closer to a sappy(well written) romance novel with smut in it.

If anything, it was cheesily romantic. The protagonist spending time with their love interest, and trying to get their love interest to fall for them before said love interest leaves. The pages that were particularly worn had the best of these cheesy lovey-dovey scenes in them. The one she had seen Kakashi on the most often (Page 271) Had the main character confessing their undying love in a dramatic fashion, complete with roses and tears.

"..."

Oh.

My.

God.

Kakashi was a hopeless romantic.

She squealed.

"What!? Haruhi!?" Kakashi flung himself forward, blankets flying off him as a kunai appeared in his hands. When he caught sight of her and the page she was reading, he froze.

"Kakashi sooo cute~" She cooed. "A romantic! Who would have thought?"

"W-well, I-I, No! That's not at all-why did you wake me up!? " A flustered blush rose up on his face and overtook his cheek.

She giggled.

Kakashi deflated like a balloon and his eyes blanked white in embarrassment as he pulled the sheets up over his head. For a second his tight grip looked like he wanted to strangle himself.

"There's no reason to be ashamed! Girls love sensitive guys!" Haruhi said mischievously, bouncing around the nightstand. She leapt from the table onto his bed and continued jumping on his chest.

He stopped tugging the sheets. There was a pause in motion as she felt him lift his head. From underneath them he said;

"...Do you?"

"Maybe." She said cheekily, ignoring the way he deflated, head flopping in defeat onto the pillow. "Goodnight!"

His one eye peeking out from the blanket shot her a stinky look and she descended into peals of hysterics as he ruthlessly (but carefully) poked and tickled her sides.

* * *

She had promised Naruto. He had pulled her to the side after the training session, desperate for help. Seeing the boy who was usually brimming with confidence so nervous over the dinner had made her want to squeal but also hug him. Then she realized she couldn't hug him so she did the next best thing.

"I'll help you get ready tomorrow." She had said to him without thinking it through. She actually had no idea what passed for formal wear here, and with her and Kakashi heading there right now she was about to jump ship.

Kakashi leant in through the window.

"Eat your greens, Naruto." Kakashi said, reading his book while holding out the bowl of greens to the scowling Genin.

"Eat healthy. You'll have to do it when we get to Sakura's tomorrow." She chipped in, running down Kakashi's extended arm.

Naruto's scowl softened into a frown as he considered the bowl. He snatched it and stuffed some into his mouth, kale bits falling into his instant ramen.

"Dou 'Ike Dat?" He said thickly.

"Very attractive."

Not picking up on her sarcasm, Naruto beamed and shoved more in his mouth. She walked around the table as Kakashi read his Icha Icha, surveying the apartment. To her great surprise, it was cleaner than she thought it would be. In fact, the place was so pristine it shined. The tile floor was pure white, the carpets were so clean they looked to be shampooed, the kitchen surfaces were wiped down and even the windows were cleaned.

What apparition could have done this?

"Hello Haruhi-sensei." Haku said pleasantly.

"Hey Haku." She said. Wait.

"What are you doing here!?" She said surprised.

Haku laughed.

"I live here. Naruto was kind enough to invite me into his home." Naruto blushed and hid behind his kale.

Haruhi didn't know that.

"T-that's really kind of you Naruto." She said. That explained the spotless apartment.

"Well, if you don't need me…" Kakashi inched out the window, threw a wink at her and then was gone. Haruhi had accepted he would be dropping her they dashing from now on. She stole a green leaf and crunched into it. Delicious.

"We need to shop for proper attire first, Naruto, Haruhi-sensei. Then we should perhaps look for some food of our own to stock up the fridge, and after that clean up a little more." Haku listed.

He seemed rather talkative. He was normally more passive. Also out of character, Naruto was listening with rapt attention.

They packed up and stepped out, Haku locking the door behind them. Haku's hand that wasn't holding her twitched like he wanted to twist his long pretty hair, before falling to rest at his side.

Haruhi shifted uncomfortable on Haku's hand. While it was true they had gotten closer over the weeks of training, it still felt...weird having him hold her again.

Naruto twitched nervously before slapping on a cheesy plastic grin. He put his arms behind his head in his standard relaxed pose-only she could see his hands nearly ripping out his hair.

"So guys...Haha, where to first?" Naruto's tone was one of forced relaxation, and she couldn't help but notice the little warble in his voice.

Her heart melted.

"Well, clothes that are more formal, first." She said. God, what even counted as formal wear here? Naruto wouldn't know, and Haku wouldn't have been to a dinner like this in years, much less in a place like Konoha.

"I've surveyed Konoha before. The clothes shopping district is this way." Haku said.

It was still early in the day, and the air carried that crisp morning smell with the scent of freshly baking bread. They walked into a small sleepy thrift shop, filled with decent, seemingly cheaper clothing. No one was at the counter and no one was browsing the racks.

They just stood there, at a loss for what to look for.

"All right!" Haruhi clapped her hands. "Look for clothes without rips, tears or stains, and ones that fit. We'll narrow it down from there."

Relieved at having directions, Haku placed her on one of the racks and they started browsing. They separated clothes on their own respective piles and haruhi shouted out advice.

"Try for something not too formal, but not informal. Dress in between those two. Sakura's parents aren't fussy." Haruhi called. They nodded and Naruto pulled out a pair of sharp sky blue pants that matched his eyes, and a toned down orange shirt with a stain in the front.

"Keep those." She called. Her inner fashion senses were surfacing again and she was already evaluating the shoes Naruto had and the color tones. Her eyes raked over the racks and she spotted a canary yellow shirt with a breast pocket which she promptly told Naruto to grab. It would go perfect with his hair, and the pants were darker at the creases but still matched his eyes. All he needed were neutral shoes to balance everything out. Her mind whizzed with all the possible combinations and she turned her attention to Haku.

"Go try them on." Naruto nodded and scampered into the changing room.

Haku had dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was taller and slimmer than Naruto too so slightly looser clothes would be better for him. Light brown pants, almost a beige color would do well on him, and a simple dark aqua shirt would contrast that nicely.

He shifted under her gaze, his bangs falling in his face and hiding most of it.

"Okay Haku, look for clothes that are brown or blue-green."

Haruhi needed to get this right. First impressions were everything.

A man walked out of the back room, surprise coating his face-especially when he saw her, but a glint of recognition lit his eye and he smiled.

"I didn't know I had any customers. Is there anything I can help you with?" He asked. Haruhi was tempted to tell him to go away and leave them alone, but they needed all the help they could get. He showed them clothes that might go well with the color scheme and chatted about the different styles. The changing room door opened.

"Haruhi-sensei I tried them on-" Naruto tensed up.

"…"

The man stopped talking, staring in ill disguised horror at Naruto.

Uh oh.

"Sir, you were saying?" Haruhi's smile became tenser. He seemed to have not heard her as he had yet to break his stare. Naruto was getting antsy and she could see the dejection on his face.

"As-as I was saying." He stuttered, "This shirt would go well with the overall outfit."

Naruto cautiously approached her from the side, taking the long way to avoid the manager. It did little to relax the man, as he shuffled away from them and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face, his gaze narrowing.

It was time to do what she did best.

"You do have a wonderful fashion sense. I can see why you run this shop."

He gaped at her, searching for the lie and thrown by the sudden change in atmosphere. But when he found none the simmering hostility was replaced with confusion and reluctant happiness at the compliment. His focus has shifted to her. Good.

She kept up the pleasant chat as they browsed and the man relaxed the tiniest bit. His gazed flickered back and forth in confusion from Naruto and then to her.

"Naruto, why don't you tell him about your mission?" Haruhi said. She forced a calm expression. This was a risky move. Speculations had swirled among much of the civilian population, especially due to who made up the team and the takedown of Zabuza. She knew he'd be interested and she was proven right when the last traces of hostility vanished, replaced by curiosity. But beside her Haku stiffened.

Naruto launched into a retelling of the wave mission, and by the time he got to the bridge battle, the man was entrapped in his story, urging him to go on. With a couple pointed coughs from Haruhi she was able to avoid any slights against Haku.

"What happened to the bridge?" The man demanded.

"It was finished and they named it after us, Team Seven!" Naruto said proudly.

The man's jaw dropped before he turned and looked at her.

"It's true." she said.

He shook his head, still trying to comprehend all that he heard before he cleared his throat.

"Well, here. These clothes should be good too." He muttered, handing a stack to a shocked Naruto.

"If you need anything else, I'll be in back." And with one last thoughtful looked he disappeared into the back room.

Haku sighed, turning his head to finally show the scarred side.

"That went well." He said.

Naruto was less responsive. His eyes had glazed over in what looked like a sheet of tears and he stared transfixed at the pile of clothing the man had picked out for him and blubbered he was going to try them on now. The door swished closed.

"That went well." Haruhi agreed. Haku nodded but abruptly stopped, his gaze focusing on the door. The bells on the handle stayed silent as they turned, revealing Sasuke.

He stood in his normal attire of white shorts and a high collared blue shirt, but the way he stood with his back slightly hunched and his eyes too the floor cued her in that he was nervous. A faint blush rested on his pale face as his gaze dragged up from the dust speck on the floor and rested on the pile of clothes Haku was holding.

"Would you like to browse with us?" Haruhi asked kindly.

He flushed light pink and nodded, stuffing his hands deeper into his pockets as he made his way over to them. Sensing he was about to say something, Haruhi kept silent.

"It's been awhile." He mumbled after a minute. "I haven't eaten dinner like this since before…"

"It's fine Sasuke. You don't need to explain yourself to me." She smiled, before sizing him up.

What colors would look best on him?

She needed something fresh. So not blue or white. His pale features and black hair and eyes were convenient, as anything could go with that. But she didn't just want anything…

She took in the faint blush on his cheeks.

"Pink." She said.

"Excuse me?" Sasuke said.

"Pink. Pink is your color. Look for a pink shirt with sleeves to the elbow and black pants." She nodded, happy with her choices.

"...But it's pink." He said lamely.

"And you'll look very good in it. I'm sure Sakura will appreciate it." She winked.

Sasuke had nothing to say to that, and set out to look for the clothes.

"Here Sasuke." Haku said, holding out a light pink shirt with long sleeves. Sasuke looked up from a pair of black shorts to shoot a surprised look before accepting it with a small nod.

"Knock on the changing room door. Naruto should be done soon and you both can try on your clothes."

Sasuke nodded and gathered his clothes up and knocked on the door.

"Okay, I'm coming out." A slightly wavering voice said. Naruto opened the door, his nose and cheeks suspiciously red, but otherwise looking sharp in his outfit.

"Sasuke! What are you doing here?"

"Trying on clothes." He said shortly. He pushed past Naruto and closed the door behind him.

"Hm, looks good Naruto." She said.

"Really?"

The Canary yellow T-shirt with the breast pocket and the sky blue pants was fresh as fuck on Naruto. It was well balanced and the color scheme was fly.

"Yes. Very put together. Now Haku just has to try his on." The door clicked as Sasuke stepped out and Haruhi swallowed a gasp.

The light pink long sleeve shirt brought out his normally hidden blush and lips and almost seemed to make his eyes glitter. The baggy black capri with the pockets on the side was sharp-especially with the silver trimmings.

But there was still something off…

"Sasuke, roll up your sleeves to your elbow. Like this." She mimed rolling up her sleeves and Sasuke copied.

Now up to his elbow and cuffed, it looked even better.

"Perfectio." She said smugly.

"Alright, You and Naruto change back to your original clothes and pay for it. I'll work on Haku."

They nodded and gathered up their clothes and headed to the counter, pushing each other and checking out clothes on the racks upfront.

She turned her full attention to Haku. He stood in the back with clothes of his choosing- a pair of beige pants and a toned down aqua shirt with tiny wave patterns on it.

"Nice!" Haruhi said appreciatively. It was very masculine, with the sharp cuts and colors. "Try it on." Haku hesitated for a second before slipping into the changing room. Haruhi waited patiently, taking in how the sunlight was now streaming in the store window, illuminating a rack of ties and jewelry. She was eyeing a necklace with sunflowers approvingly when Haku stepped out.

The beige pants worked well with his eyes and the Aqua blue-green shirt was a nice contrast. The little waves had her sold.

"Execellent."

But instead of going back in and changing he hesitated again, throwing her a glance. Sensing he wanted to say something she looked over her shoulder to see Naruto choking on something (probably a button) and Sasuke giving him the heimlich maneuver.

"What is it, Haku?"

"...I'm...not sure I should go."

"…"

Out of all the things Haruhi had expected this was not one of them.

"Well, of course you should. You are a part of team seven, Haku." She said softly.

He nodded without conviction and Haruhi furrowed her brow.

"Why don't you really want to go, Hun? You can tell me."

Haku didn't say anything, but the way he turned the burnt side of his face away from her was answer enough.

"Sakura doesn't care about your burns, Haku. She looks past them and sees you as the kind soul and good friend you really are. And if her parents are anything like the girl they raised-which they are-they won't care either."

The hesitance didn't go away.

"Haku…" She asked.

"I-" He cut himself off before licking his lips and speaking again. "I hurt Sakura pretty badly."

Oh.

"Sakura doesn't hold that against you, Haku. You hurt me but I don't care about that Haku." His eyes seemed to rest on the circular mark on her clavicle where the senbon had punctured her. "A-and I hurt you too."

His burnt hand was carefully still.

"That was different then. We were enemies then. But now, now we're one the same side. You are part of team seven and you're our friend, Haku honey. Don't you forget it."

Haku blinked for a moment, seemingly in a stupor. Then he smiled shyly, moving a piece of hair into his face.

But that smile was faint and weak, almost a grimace.

What was she missing?

Haku was looking at the clothes like they would bite him. He swallowed thickly as he took in the bold cuts and dark colors. Did he not like the clothes she picked out?

"You know, if you don't like those clothes, we can pick out something else."

He looked startled for a second, before biting his lip. He seemed to want to say something, eyes flickering back and forth from her to the other clothing on the racks, to everyone else around them.

He put down the clothes she had picked out. He walked to the rack filled with womens and girls clothes and flipped through them. He pause when his face stopped in front of the women's sign. He pulled out a baby blue blouse, and a pair of loose pants that has pockets with golden gilded buttons.

"It would look together."

Haku nodded, face stiff in a forced relaxed expression. Haruhi's brow furrowed.

And then everything clicked.

Haku must've noticed the realization drawing on her face because he-she flinched, and clutched the clothes closer to her.

"Would you like to go try them on?" She asked softly. " I think you would look very good in them."

Haku nodded, and closed the door behind her as she closed the dressing room door.

It all made sense. The uncomfortable looks when Naruto called her Haku-kun, the vague looks of envy when looking at other girls or in shop windows. Her aversion to cutting her hair, even though it was severely burned. The look on her face at the store when Ino, Sakura, and her were buying their period supplies. How had she not noticed this before?

Haku emerged from the dressing room.

She looked amazing in that outfit, Haruhi couldn't pull it off better herself.

"It looks great, Haku. Would you like to get that one?"

She nodded.

She turned to go back and change, before Haruhi called out.

"What would you like me to call you?"

She stopped.

"...Haku. Haku-chan when no one else is around."

She nodded, and smiled.

Haku changed back into the gender neutral clothes she had worn before, carrying her clothes under her arm.

"Let's go checkout." She said.

Naruto had stopped choking and was rubbing his throat while Sasuke continued to look on annoyed.

"Sasuke, can you call the man back?" He nodded.

Sasuke then offered to pay despite Haku's protests saying he had a lot to spare.

"Come back again." The man called after them. He had warmed up to Naruto after hearing about his mission to wave.

They wanted to get their clothes home as quick as possible, but before they left they stopped and shopped for food for a little bit. Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku made her promise to meet with them beforehand at Naruto's apartment and with her arms twisted she agreed.

But how would she get Kakashi too?

* * *

Haruhi fidgeted with her piece of stir fry, folding and refolding her legs under her. Kakashi was waiting patiently for her to collect her thoughts behind his book.

"All four of them are nervous about the dinner and I really want to be there early to help and I know you don't want to be there early, so um, I don't know, if you could maybe drop me off?" Haruhi had meant to be firm but it ended in a question as she got nervous. She blushed and looked down at her clasped hands.

"...Maa, if it means so much to you, I suppose we could get there...early." He said with obvious distaste.

The Kakashi Hatake, always at least two hours late, willing to be somewhere early!?

"Oh Kakashi, Thank you!"

He waved her off, smushing his face against the book so he wouldn't have to look at her grateful expression. And so she wouldn't see his reddened cheek.

* * *

Hey guys! Long time no see! School has started but labor day has granted me a three day weekend to come and update this! The dinner will be next chapter, and after that I plan to start the Chunin exams.

I have a community up so you can check that out.

Harushi moments: 2.

Question of the chapter: How do you think Haruhi has influenced the boys (besides Kakashi) of team seven?

And yes I did loosely base my Haruhi off of the Haruhi from Ouran high School Host Club.

Many thanks to reebajee! Check out some of their work!


	30. Dinner Disaster

Enjoy!

* * *

"Alright, how do we feel?" Haruhi asked.

Naruto twitched, Haku stiffened and a muscle in Sasuke's jaw jumped. Kakashi just sighed. Again. Haruhi wiped her sweaty palms on her black pants. So caught up in making sure they looked good and had something nice to wear, she had forgotten about herself. One emergency trip to Kasumi's and then she had a form fitting pair of black pants and a nice blue blouse. Kakashi had also been in a mood lately. He didn't even complain when she demanded they go to the shop, and there was the small little thing of arriving early instead of two hours late. He was carefully staring straight ahead.

"Okay then, we have officially five minutes before the door opens. You all look dashing, Sakura's parents are cool and no worries."

They didn't look convinced, though Naruto did stop twitching briefly. He had probably never experienced anything like this, considering how much he was ostracized. Haruhi self consciously fluffed her hair. There were a lot of times when she wished she was bigger, and now was one of them. Despite being smaller she felt like the spotlight was on her. Sakura's parents knew she was small, right?!

"…"

Haruhi wasn't even sure who she was trying to reassure with that. She was beginning to really understand why the three boys were so worried. Haruhi tapped her fingers against her thigh, Impatiently asking someone to knock- better get it over with.

Haku volunteered to knock. Just when her knuckle brushed the door it was yanked open, and Haruhi was struck by the weirdest sense of deja vu.

The man's hair was a dusty pink, and shaped like Patrick Star from spongebob. The wide smile on his face was almost an exact replica of Sakura's. Haruhi was reeling and missed his vocal welcome. She did catch Sakura in the background from her perch on Kakashi's shoulder whose face was as pink as her hair.

"-This must be Haruhi!"

She blinked.

"Y-yeah, Hi." She smiled and hoped there was nothing in her teeth. But not like he would be able to see it if there was. At least he knew she was small.

"Sakura's said a lot about you." He said with a 10 megawatt grin. "We heard all about this amazing "Haruhi sensei"-we're so glad to finally meet you!"

"Dad!" Sakura blurted in embarrassment. The three boys turned towards the sound of her voice, but didn't see her due to her father being in the way. She was tastefully dressed in a white sundress with a cherry blossom pattern and a green sash. Haruhi could appreciate that. Haruhi could also appreciate the kind smile Sakura's dad was giving her and she almost immediately felt her worries melting away. Her worried smile became genuine.

He laughed and rubbed his head, and Haruhi was reminded of Naruto.

"Come inside! Dinners ready." He stepped out of the way, revealing Sakura to the boys. Naruto immediately laid on the compliments, probably trying to get into Kizashi's good books.

It was Haku's and Sasuke's reactions that interested her. Sasuke's eyes bugged out for a second before he blinked and smiled microscopically. Haku tilted her head. The color coordination of pink and green-blue between the three of them made Haruhi's inner crayola fantic squeal in joy. It almost looked like a painting or something.

"Looking sharp! Come in." Her dad said.

They took off their shoes and walked through the hallway that Haruhi had previously been in when she had helped Ino and Sakura. Pictures of a young Sakura and her family decorated the wall, while a delicious smell drifted from the kitchen.

Stir fry.

Sakura giggled, seeing Haruhi's face.

"I know how much you like stir-fry, Haruhi-Sensei, so I told mom to make some for you."

Haruhi beamed, mood lifting like fog in the morning. Entering the Kitchen first was her and Kakashi, who looked supremely uncomfortable with being there on time. Haruhi couldn't blame him really. In a better mood, Haruhi peered over her shoulder make sure everyone was in the hallway (Mebuki went out to greet them) before leaning on the side of Kakashi's face.

"Kakashi," She whispered "If you want to leave and come back later that's cool. You can go and I'll tell them you had to leave and do something important."

Haruhi really didn't want him to leave- it would make her feel exposed- but she didn't want him to be uncomfortable either. She was enough of a bother as it was, and she still felt bad for dragging him around. She wiped her still sweaty palms on her pants, nervous about facing Sakura's parents alone.

"Maa, that's okay." He said, eye smiling in a way that told her it was not okay.

Alright. They'd suffer together. While feeling bad for causing Kakashi stress like this, she did not like being in social situations for very long especially not with people she didn't know yet. All those new people crowding her and wanting to pick her up like a gerbil had her twitchy with meeting new people.

She was glad Kakashi decided to stay with her. It made her feel better. The chattering became louder and she heard Naruto's grating laugh sound from the hallway.

"Kakashi-san! It's nice to see you again." Sakura's mother entered the kitchen, everyone else following behind her. Yes, it made sense for Kakashi to visit his student's parents. Mebuki had a V shaped bang covering most of her forehead and dark green eyes.

"You too." He smiled, and if Haruhi hadn't known what to look for she wouldn't have been able to tell how out of his depth he was. They took their places around the table; Naruto, Haku, Sasuke and Kakashi sitting on one side while Sakura and her parents took the other. Food steamed in its various containers and with a sinking feeling Haruhi realized she didn't know where to sit.

Would it be rude to stay on Kakashi's shoulder?

She didn't see anything wrong with it, but she wasn't sure how to eat.

Well, she wasn't hungry.

But wouldn't it be rude to come here and not eat?

"Oh, Haruhi!" Mebuki exclaimed. With an uncomfortable feeling Haruhi lifted her head to meet her eyes. "I made a special spot for you!"

Right smack in the middle of the table, in clear view of everyone and directly under the kitchen light was a square of yellow cloth that clashed horrible with her blue blouse. The blood drained from her face as she forced a smile.

"Oh! You...shouldn't have!"

"Really, it was no problem." Mebuki smiled. She and Kakashi exchange nervous looks. Her being in the middle meant being separated from him. In this situation with new people and high stakes, they really didn't want that.

The four kids trooped into the kitchen, Sakura filling the air with a nervous chatter and Naruto laughing obnoxiously. Haruhi wanted to tell him to stop, but the thought of the attention it would draw halted her in her tracks.

The Haruno family took one side of the table and the rest took the other. With extreme hesitation, Haruhi slid down from Kakashi's shoulder and silently sat in the middle, knees in from and sitting on her feet. It was an extremely uncomfortable position, but she felt sitting criss cross applesauce was too casual, and asking to move to the side of the table by Kakashi would just draw attention to herself.

She fought to control her blush, embarrassment causing her to overheat slightly. Her rosacea was enough as it was.

Mebuki placed plates in front of them. A feeling of trepidation took over her. Her size was an issue as she normally just took food from kakashi's plate or someone gave her something. She stopped at Haruhi to put a baby plate down.

A baby plate.

Her mouth ran dry and suddenly she couldn't speak, overcome with surprise and feeling strangely paralyzed.

It was plastic and not much smaller than a tea plate. It had wavy rims and was a bright hot pink. A baby plate. Like for a baby no bigger than the one she and Kakashi had calmed on that one D-rank mission. A pair of toothpicks rested in the middle of them, still a little too big for her, but at least it was something.

There was a beat of silence and suddenly everyone was staring at her. She must have missed something.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked. It felt like when she zoned out during her teachers' lectures back in High school and suddenly she had no idea what was going on, all eyes on her.

"Well, My Sakura has told us so much about you. Before it was all Sasuke-kun!" Her father raised his voice into a high pitched squeal before dropping back down." But now it's this Haruhi-sensei she talks about!" Her dad laughed. Sakura blushed, studiously keeping her eyes down.

"Oh really?" Haruhi said. She didn't know Sakura held her in such high regard. Mebuki nodded, a soft gleam in her eye- the thanks of a mother. Great. The yellow cloth was some sort of seat of honor then. Haruhi grew even more uncomfortable, restraining herself from shifting nervously. A bead of sweat trickled down her neck, hidden by the curls of her hair.

"Yes! So, a jutsu accident, huh? What's it like being small?"

Oh, you know, crushing for your self esteem, feelings of helplessness, dependence, unbalancing. Haruhi couldn't say that though.

"It's rather unique." She sugarcoated. That got laughs from Sakura's parents and she relaxed the slightest bit.

Mebuki started spooning out the food and Haruhi retensed. How much should she eat? How much could she eat? God, she was never doing this again.

Mebuki leaned over, and very gentle spooned the rice and veggies onto Haruhi's baby plate while everyone else got their own food. Ignoring her burning ears, Haruhi thanked her. The portion she had been served was small in comparison to everyone else's, but it was about the same size as Haruhi. She cringed as she thought of her waist line.

Sasuke's eyes widened and against his will an appreciative hum slipped out. He had just bitten into a piece of the tomato.

"I'm glad you like it! I cooked it myself!" Kizashi exclaimed.

Sasuke flushed, noticeable on his pale cheeks. Haruhi had told Sakura before that Sasuke's favorite food was tomatos, just in case she wanted to make him a bento box or something.

"It's very good." Sasuke said, and given how antisocial and nervous he was, Haruhi thought it was a miracle they had gotten that out of him. Naruto chimed in agreeing. Using the distraction Haruhi awkwardly picked up her makeshift chopsticks and lifted a small piece of tomato. Closing her eyes and sniffing, images of her and Kakashi's first dinner appeared in her mind. Rolling the onion, watching in awe as he effortlessly chopped the vegetables, and the tentative peace that seemed to settle between them. She took a bit and almost let out an appreciative hum of her own.

"-ruhi?"

She had apparently zoned out again. Great. Sakura's parents probably thought she had holes in her brain.

"Yes?" She asked after swallowing her bite of tomato.

"Well, we just think it's wonderful how Sakura is taking the ninja life seriously now. She talks nonstop about her team." Mebuki said, speaking for both her and her husband who nodded with his mouth full.

"I'm right here!" Sakura said, embarrassed.

"Really Sakura-chan!?" Naruto said excitedly. His baby blues shined with excitement at the thought of Sakura talking about him.

Sakura's dad laughed, and was probably about to say something embarrassing when Haku spoke up for the first time.

"Thank you for having me."

The way he said it made Haruhi think there was more to it than just thanking them for dinner.

"No problem at all!" Kizashi said, having finally swallowed his food. Feeling like Kakashi, Haruhi quickly took another bite of the pile of food while the attention was off of her.

There was still a huge amount on her plate. She felt like it was a metaphor for her life or something.

Naruto was talking about one of their training sessions much to the delight of Kizashi, going into depth about his shadow clones and all the tricks he wanted to try out. Sasuke and Haku finally relaxed, the topic something they were familiar with. When Sasuke complemented Sakura's control and improvement, the two parents beamed.

"I must agree." Haku said quickly, nearly cutting Sasuke off, "Sakura-san Has better control than even I, and I am a Chunin." Haku said gracefully.

"A chunin you say?" Sakura's dad said excitedly.

"I only ever got to Genin myself. I was always more of a tradesman." He turned to Sakura, clearly impressed with Haku. "You have very impressive friends."

Sasuke bit down on his food with a little more force than necessary.

"They are impressive. They've all grown considerably since I first took them on." Kakashi said.

"Thanks to you." Mebuki beamed, putting more food on his empty plate. Kakashi nodded his thanks, and ignored the intense looks everyone was giving him.

The discussion continued, and Haruhi kept pulling on the collar of her shirt. She was super hot for some reason, which was weird considering the food wasn't spicy.

"Do you like it Haruhi-san?" Mebuki asked. And suddenly all eyes were on her again. She could feel her face heat up as she looked at her baby plate filled with a pile of food she could never eat.

She nodded, uncomfortable.

It was clear that Sakura's parents weren't done with asking her questions and just as Kizashi opened his mouth to speak, with no doubt to say something else to put her front and center someone else spoke up.

"D'his is delicious." Kakashi said, mouth full and cheeks bulging under his mask. They all looked away from her and she breathed a small sigh of relief. Kakashi dipped his head and winked at her, everyone else missing it.

Bless that man. Haruhi felt a spring of gratitude and affection, and to her horror, she felt tears gather in her eyes. She quickly stamped them down, flooded with confusion. She quickly took another bite with her giant toothpick chopsticks. What was wrong with her? Was the stress finally getting to her?

Mebuki and Sakura cleaned up and brought out dessert- something with strawberries. Haruhi wasn't really paying attention.

Sasuke didn't like sweets, but when Sakura said she made it, he bravely ate a few bites. Naruto exclaimed his love for the sweets, and Haruhi found herself enjoying it too, despite the awkwardness of it all. She only really felt comfortable eating when she wasn't so exposed, or when it was just her and Kakashi.

They continued to talk and laugh, Mebuki taking out a camera and snapping a picture of them when they were in the middle of a board game, Haruhi having been reclaimed by Kakashi and sitting on his shoulder.

"Sasuke cheated!" Naruto bellowed as he lost for the fifth time in a row.

"Maybe I'm just that good." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto growled and reset the board. Sakura and Haku-chan chattered in the background, something with their medical textbook while keeping up a conversation with her parents. She was in the middle of picking apart the conversations they had over dinner and wondering if she could talk about anything else with Sakura's parents when Kakashi tensed.

"Is it him?" She whispered worriedly.

A slight shake of his head told her no, but he didn't relax.

"Well!" he said loudly. Naruto startled and looked up. Sasuke took the chance and switched some of the pieces.

"I had a great time here. But It's time for Haruhi and me to leave now."

Haruhi blinked in surprise.

"Really?" Mebuki said, a bit disappointed. Her husband nodded, and looked at them questioningly. The four children looked up in surprise, before shrugging and going back to their board game. Haruhi sensed Mebuki's mood and quickly spoke, seizing the opportunity to leave.

"Yeah, it's about time for us to leave. I loved my time here though, I'll have to visit again." She smiled.

Mebuki nodded and everyone said their goodbyes.

"Alright Team Seven! Meet at our usual spot tomorrow. It's gonna be a big day."

The original three members broke out in whispers, since the last time Kakashi had said something like that it involved them getting bulldozed in the bell test. But Haruhi never heard their speculation, as Kakashi was already gone and out the door. They dashed over rooftops so quickly is blurred, but Haruhi recognized where they were heading seconds before kakashi stopped at his doorstep.

He opened it before quickly snapping it closed and bringing her to eye level.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, eye narrowing.

...What?

"U-uh, no, why?" She managed.

Kakashi remained silent for a moment, before something clicked. His eye widened and averted itself. He strode over to the guest bathroom and flicked on the light, plopping her on the counter.

"I-I'll let you take care of it." He stuttered, closing the door with a snap.

Huh.

She breathed deeply, before letting out a huge sigh of relief, a strand of her hair swaying with her exhale. The tension leaked out of her shoulders now that the dinner was over. The dinner definitely didn't go as well as she would have liked, but it could have been worse.

She thought of the baby plate and cringed.

Her spare set of sleep clothes was in the drawer, she just had to change and brush her teeth. Exhaustion weighed heavily on her mind as she slipped off the blue blouse and tugged down her black pants.

...Why was her hand wet?

She narrowed her eyes as she brought up her fingers to her face and held them up to the light bulbs

Realizing what it was, she closed her eyes and counted to ten. She striped herself and clean herself off, washing blood off her pants and underwear before ripping up a bit of cotton and wrapping that in the tiniest bit of bandages before putting it in a new pair of underwear. One less thing to worry about, she guessed. Or maybe it was one more?

She climbed down the installed mini staircase, thoughts of her life swirling in her head. She had never expected to stay here long enough to meet Sakura's parents, much less have dinner with them. It was dangerous here, being that everyone was either a child soldier, part of a corrupt system, or just batshit insane. And being next to the main characters, small, and a civilian, her chance of death just skyrocketed.

Sensing she needed some time to think, Kakashi said good night, and studiously read Icha Icha as she went under the dresser to her bed.

Ever since the beans were spilled about her existence to the rest of Konoha, and that man had tried to kidnap her...she thought every new person was just gonna snatch her up and run, and there wouldn't be anything she could do about it. Even if she was big, there would still be very little she could do. That wasn't being irrational. She wasn't a ninja, and had no plans of being one.

Sleep was harder to come by and sometimes she would startle awake for no reason other than a sense of paranoia. Kakashi was an amazing security blanket, but he couldn't always be there.

The dinner was bad.

It had never been so apparent until that moment just how much she didn't fit in. Literally, she did not fit in. Some part of her used to think everything here was the wrong size but really, it was just her. Having to sit on the middle of the table, be served on a baby's plate, making Sakura's parents go out of their way to cater to her, it was degrading.

She felt like she was too big and too small at the same time, as impossible as that sounded. The odd one out.

Her hand twitched into a fist and she swiped away the tears welling in the corner of her eyes.

She had done everything for herself, ever since she was a small child she got herself up and ready for school, made dinner, and even got a job in highschool to pay for her car. To be suddenly completely dependent on Kakashi, needing help for everything was too much for her. It was nice at first, someone else caring for her. Her Father couldn't care for her and her mother was working to support them, so it was nice. But it got old really fast.

She wanted to go home.

She didn't care how lonely it was now that her father finally passed.

Her dad had been on a downward spiral with his health for years. It was something they knew would come, but when he passed in his sleep from a stroke when she was a senior, Haruhi felt like she was living in a daze. Her mother threw herself into her business after that, unable to cope with the loss of her husband.

Haruhi didn't care how big and empty it was, it was still home and she wanted to go back.

Haruhi wanted to go somewhere to relax, just cry and let it all out, but it was too dangerous. She flinched at the idea, images of a spider-like hand flashing across her mind. She couldn't stray from Kakashi.

She felt like a mouse caught in a trap.

"Hamster Haruhi…" she murmured ironically.

She hated being small, but at least she could curl up and almost disappear completely.

* * *

"Okay team!" Kakashi said. "I have something very important for you all!"

Haruhi looked from her perch on his shoulder. She had an inkling…

"What is it sensei?" Sakura asked.

In response, Kakashi whipped out three sheets of paper, with text she couldn't read from this far away. It was obviously a form of some sort.

"Kakashi-sensei Kakashi-sensei! There are only three papers but four of us. Are you gonna make us fight again, is this another test!?" Naruto shouted, scowling.

"Naruto, I think you're finally learning!" Kakashi beamed. "And yes, this is a are the forms you three need to fill out for the chunin exams, and Haku already has the rank of Chunin, so he won't be needing one."

Kakashi's eye crinkled.

"I know you three can do it."

Haruhi closed her eyes and slid down into the pocket.

* * *

So... It's been awhile, huh?

I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew this semester, but thanks to Thanksgiving break, I was able to get this done. And I have something very important to announce, something I think we all knew was coming; I'm going on Hiatus.

I want the best for my readers, and as such, I will be going back and editing old chapters, correcting grammar and spelling mistakes, as well as adding a few more details. In the meantime, may I suggest my other Naruto stories, Doggy Days and Miko, which have their own merits.

I am by no means stopping this story. I have every intention of continuing and seeing this through. I already have a resolution in mind as well as a basic outline for the rest of the story.

Thank you to each and everyone of you who took the time to read this. Comment what you like about this story and chapter, what you think I should fix, or something you think would be cool to see in future chapters.

Question of the chapter: How do you think the longer stay is negatively affecting Haruhi? How can you tell?

Many thanks to reebajee.

See you!


	31. The Exams

_Snap._

 _Snap._

 _Snap._

Haruhi's finger whirls around her lock of hair, pulling and tugging on the strands in her worry. She really doesn't like this.

A part of her always knew this would happen eventually, but being confronted with it was like being slapped in the face with a trout. The fact that this hell-world had glorified gladiatorial pits where people, often children fought each other and sometimes died was vulgar.

And now her kids were going to do just that.

When Orochimaru was after them.

She gave a particularly ferocious tug that made her wince in pain. She then scowled.

"What's wrong Haruhi-chan?" Kakashi asked.

She wanted to tell him it was the dystopia they were currently living in plus the fact he was sending the kids to Orochimaru but instead said something else.

"I've heard that the Chunin exams are dangerous. Are you sure they're ready? Won't it take a lot for them to pass, if they pass at all?" She blurted.

Kakashi hummed.

"Well, to be honest with you, none of them have a great chance of passing."

Haruhi was shocked, hand stilling.

"Then why did you sign them up?"

"Because it was the safest time to do so."

That rendered Haruhi speechless. Sensing her bafflement, Kakashi took it upon himself to answer.

"The next Chunin exam would be in Kumo. Kumo is notorious for its bloodline theft. Sasuke wouldn't be safe, and neither would Naruto. The two Hyuga's, Hinata and Neji definitely wouldn't be safe. The Chunin exam after that would be in the sound village, a village we don't have much information about except a multitude of disappearances-mainly of promising young individuals. I signed them up now so they could get the experience of the exam in a relatively controlled environment, where they have the home field advantage and other Konoha teams to rely on. It's not that I doubt their abilities, or that I don't believe they can do it, but If they learn now they won't have to suffer later."

That...actually made a lot of sense. Signing the three genin up for the exams when they clearly weren't ready for them was one of the only things she didn't like about Kakashi, but hearing about it from his POV changed that. But she was still worried about Orochimaru. How could she bring that up?

"But what about that man who tried to take me? The one who stalked the kids at the training grounds? Is it really safe for them?"

Kakashi considered her concerns, something she really appreciated.

"To be honest, being a ninja will never be safe. This is as safe as it gets. And we've known for a long time about security breaches in Konoha. Us Jounin were told to keep it on the down low, but…"

He leaned down.

"The teams from sound were expelled. "

"Why?"

"We've been detecting suspicious activity from sound for awhile now. Tsume Inuzuka-she's the clan head of the Inuzuka clan- captured a faint scent trail of them around Konoha-before admittance to the exam was allowed. And not only that, but we suspect multiple persons following team seven are around. During the bell test, Pakkun briefly picked up a scent before it disappeared. Haku detected something with his chakra sense when I was fighting with Zabuza for the first time. And the security breaches are being combated with more frequent patrols."

That explained so much.

Details she had once written off as trivial came to light. During the bell test, when Pakkun had suddenly paused to sniff at the bushes. She had thought he was smelling for a squirrel. And when they were protecting Tazuna on the way to his house, and Haku was late to save Zabuza. Had she detected a mysterious person then and went to see who it was? Was it the same one who had tried to kidnap her?

"Is it the same person who tried to kidnap me?"

"No, actually."

What.

"Pakkun compared the scent leftover at the bell test training grounds to the one in the living room. They were completely different."

"What you are trying to say is that multiple people are watching me."

"Uh, yes?"

She started twisting her hair again.

"Do we have any idea who they are?"

"Well, Pakkun did say both scents were familiar. One of them he had smelled faintly around Konoha before. We couldn't get a read on the other. Pakkun said the one in the bell test clearing smelled a lot like you, but that's because you were so close to his nose. We're not actually sure what the whole scent is."

Yikes.

Sensing her worry, again, Kakashi reassured her.

"Haku will be accompanying them into the exams."

That was actually reassuring. Haku was a mid-chunin last time they fought on the bridge. With Konoha's health care, plus the extra training she received here placed her at low jounin. Plus her bloodline and experiences outside the village made her formidable.

She would at the very least be able to stall Orochimaru.

The thought made Haruhi feel marginally better.

The three plus Haku should be making their way over to them now, and then to the first part of the exams.

Haruhi had faith that Sakura and to an extent, Haku would be able to answer all the questions. She wasn't so sure about Sasuke, and definitely not Naruto, but she figured the other two would be able to help.

The four had improved by leaps and bounds since wave, and were miles better than they were in the anime at this point. They were more prepared now than they ever were.

Naruto's ability to think critically and his chakra control was at a point now that he otherwise wouldn't have reached until Jiraiya came to town. Sasuke gained the ability to communicate and respect his teammates-something that didn't really come until the end of shippuden. Sakura gained self-respect, and physical strength. She had started training with Rock Lee, and wore leg weights. She was already putting a new spin on her water jutsus. And Haku was alive, so…

"Haruhi-sensei!"

"You guys are here!"

The kids had arrived.

They formed a semicircle around Kakashi and her. Sakura babbled about how she used Kakashi's training to see through a genjutsu on the second floor. Naruto spoke about something she couldn't make out-a weird guy who knew too much? And Sasuke and Haku were silent, observing their surroundings.

"Alright, you four be careful. Sick together, help each other out okay? If you see anyone suspicious let each other know. Don't be afraid to talk to Ino's, Hinata's, and Tenten's teams."

"Okay." Sasuke said. He seemed to take her words to heart, if his considering glances at the other teams was anything to go by.

"You worry too much!" Naruto laughed.

"Worrying is a good trait to have, especially when you're a ninja." Kakashi defended her.

Haruhi smiled, ignoring the tight coil in her chest, and wished them good luck. She watched as the walked through the doors and out of sight. It was all up to them now.

 _Snap._

 _Snap._

 _Snap._

* * *

Sakura breezed through the ten questions. Seriously, were they even trying? Sakura had done problems like this when helping her mother with her job as an electrician. She did problems like this when helping her parents with taxes.

She wished she could say it was as easy for Naruto. She and Sasuke exchanged worried glances and looked back at Naruto, who was currently ripping out his hair, like Haruhi-sensei did when she was worried, except more extreme.

Sasuke's sharingan was hidden. Sakura had taught him how to use a combination of genjutsu and the transformation jutsu to hide his eyes, as to not attract attention. He then copied her hand movements to get the right answers.

But at this angle, neither Sasuke nor Sakura would be able to let Naruto copy off of them. And while he had improved greatly, it wasn't enough to answer all these questions by himself.

Ino pig had tried to get into her mind, but Inner had kicked Ino out. Ha.

Shikamaru had eventually trapped his team in the shadow-possession jutsu and wrote the answers down for them.

If only Naruto would turn around, then she could capture him in a genjutsu and tell him the answers.

But then again that wouldn't have worked anyway. Sakura had tried a genjutsu on him during training, but something was off with his chakra. It was harder to twist and mould, and it felt...disturbing. It was heavy and sluggish- especially around his stomach. Even If he turned to face her, she wasn't sure she'd be able to catch him in a genjutsu.

That left Hinata.

Haruhi-sensei said something about helping each other out, and while she may have pushed away Ino, because no way was Sakura letting her win-even if they were friends again, Hinata could help.

Sakura gathered her chakra, and flicked a rolled up piece of paper at her head. When Hinata turned, Sakura struck.

"Sakura!?"

"Hinata, sorry about this, but could you help Naruto? Could you let him know the point of this test is to cheat. We'll owe you one."

"Oh, o-of course!"

Sakura let go of the genjutsu.

* * *

Haku watched the three genin with sharp eyes from her seat in the front. As a proctor and bodyguard for the three genin of team seven, she was keeping her eyes peeled. She was to watch and not intervene unless there was a serious threat.

However, Haku was seriously considering murdering Naruto right now. She could not believe this kid was the one who had defeated her.

She had figured out seconds after the test started what it was really about. Cheating. When Hinata finally started to speak to Naruto and help him Haku unclenched her jaws.

It was clever of Sakura to use Hinata to help. But if Hinata's previous sideways glances were anything to go by she would have helped anyway.

That was good.

Such a trouble-prone team needed allies.

Her eyes scanned the genin again, pausing on Ino.

Ino.

Haku was glad she was wearing a mask, because blushing would have been embarrassing.

Ino, was just, so…

It was hard to put into words. In the corner store, Haku had been speechless for a second, before quickly fixing her hair and hiding her face again. Haruhi-sensei and Sakura-chan hadn't been a surprise, but this beautiful kunoichi had caught her off guard.

Her eyes were sharp as she scanned prices and got the best deal, her hair was in a beautiful fishtail of golden hair that Haku just wanted to run her fingers through. Haku looked at her own damaged hair and winced. She would never be beautiful like Sakura and Ino.

Especially Ino.

When Sakura had said this was a 'girls trip only' it felt like a punch to the gut. She had rapidly excused herself after that.

It was silly of her to think she could have sat down with Ino, Sakura, and Haruhi-sensei.

Or, at least she thought.

It had taken every ounce of courage in her, but when Haruhi-sensei had said the girls clothes looked good on her, and when she called her Haku-chan, it had all been worth it. She felt pretty, in those clothes. Haruhi-sensei said so, and she was honest.

For the first time since Zabuza died, she felt like herself.

Haku relaxed, only to tense up again.

She sensed something. She knew team seven was being watched, by multiple people as she and Kakashi had talked about it. This time, is was one person outside in the trees. Their chakra was repressed, weirdly. Normally when a signature is dampened, all of it is dampened equally. But the little ripples that came with emotional reactions and personalities just wasn't there. It was like whoever was watching them were emotionally repressed.

They were different from regular ANBU.

The Hokage had said she would be watched, as was standard for incoming citizens, but it was Kakashi who was supposed to be doing that. Who authorized this?

Were they watching her? Team seven? Something else? That man with the gray hair and glasses who knew more than he should? That kid with the red hair and the repulsive chakra emitting from his stomach?

There were too many variables to tell.

She announced in a voice that was barely above a whisper that she needed to use the facilities, and left the room.

She quickly made a ice clone in the corner of the hallway, shrinking down her own signature. She had hid from Kakashi Hatake, these agents were nothing in comparison.

She sped through the hallways, finding a window, opening it, and jumping out, keeping the chakra signatures in her field the entire time.

She landed in a tree, mask still firmly in place. She flared out her senses and tracked the signature. They had moved away from the academy window, and into the more heavily forested area.

She peeked into the classroom in time to see her clone sit down on her chair. It was indistinguishable from the real her, due to the fact that is wasn't a illusion.

Her eyes narrowed behind the mask as she zeroed in on the signature. She whipped out a senbon and pressed it to the jugular.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Her voice was ice.

A Pale hand twitched towards a tanto, but Haku pressed her senbon in just a bit harder, and blood pearled on the incredibly pale skin.

"We have been watching you, Haku."

"Really."

"Yes. Accomplice to Zabuza Momochi, Bloody Demon of the Mist. Last known survivor of the Yuki clan-"

Haku squeezed his throat.

" _You didn't answer my question_."

"..."

"We are interested in you, Haku. You have many things you can offer the village. Where your talents can be used to their fullest potential. Lord Third is holding you back."

Haku opened her mouth to speak, to demand answers, but with a hand sign and a swirl of leaves, the boy with the milky white skin was gone.

* * *

Ibiki was terrifying.

Sasuke would never admit that out loud, but it was true. His chakra flared in a way that reminded him of his first fight with Zabuza. The stifling atmosphere that choked him and crushed his lungs.

But Ibiki's speech was really something to think about. What was Sasuke willing to give for Konoha?

The history classes Sasuke was taking were run by civilians. At first Sasuke had scoffed, believing he wouldn't have anything to learn from them. But after a few lessons, he could see how it was changing the way he thought of the world. Konoha suddenly wasn't this shining beacon of justice. Terrible things that Konoha nin had done in the name of the village weren't being washed over with propaganda like it was in the academy.

Since civilians weren't ninja, they had different, less biased perspectives on the Shinobi way.

He learned that Konoha wasn't perfect, and that underneath the surface, there was a plethora of things it could be hiding.

What could he, or rather, _would_ he give for a village like that?

When Naruto started shouting and when that purple haired woman bursted through the glass, he almost signed in relief.

When they got to the clearing outside the forest of death, Sakura had already talked to the other members of team 8, 10, and team Gai. They made a nonaggression pact and a call for aid if needed and if they were in the area.

Sasuke was impressed with Sakura's diplomacy skills. Haku stood silently to the side, and Sasuke noticed right away the tenseness in his shoulders. It made him tense and he followed Haku's gaze to land on a strange woman with the grass symbol on her headband.

He didn't like that.

He didn't like how she was looking at him like a piece of meat.

Sasuke was suddenly immensely grateful that Sakura had make that pact with the other Konoha teams. With his covered sharingan, he noticed Shino dispatching one of his bugs in order to land on that creepy woman.

One of them landed on Sasuke. He shot Shino a look before Sakura gave him a pointed glance and whispered into his ear.

"We're all being bugged. It means we have a system of communicating and keeping track of each other."

Sasuke nodded and accepted the bug.

Ibiki's speech had been a wake up call. The Chunin exams wouldn't be easy, and they need all the help they could get.

* * *

 **Guess who's back!**

 **So its spring break and to celebrate, I wrote chapter 31. Things are getting more intense in the story now, with multiple parties sticking their noses in Haruhi's business, and the stress she is going through. Oh Haruhi, it only gets worse.**

 **And Many of you are probably wondering about Haku. Yes she is a girl. Since only Haruhi really knows this as Haku is only comfortable with telling her, the other characters are using the wrong pronouns. This will be** **rectified.**

 **The update schedule for this story will still be pretty slow, but rest assured, there will be updates. I plan to finish this before the end of summer break.**

 **Many thanks to my beta reader, reebajee.**

 **And thank you guys, and I'm glad you've enjoyed it! Question for the chapter: What do you think of Sasuke's and Sakura's growth as characters? And a virtual high five for whoever can guess the boy with milky white skin is!**


	32. Forest of Death

After that encounter with the creepy lady with the long tounge from grass, Sakura had to say, she didn't fell to optimistic about this whole "Forest of Death" thing.

The purpled haired Jounin, Anko, didn't seemed to excited either. She had a small, but noticeable frown on her face as she handed out scrolls to the waiting groups. Or maybe, that could just be how she normally looked, Sakura didn't know.

But she was still pretty cool. Sakura would have to ask Kakashi about her.

She had no doubt there would be deadly creatures in there, but as she side-eyed that grass nin and the psycho from sand, she couldn't help but wonder if they were bringing the deadliest aspects in with them.

"Hey Fo-Sakura!"

"Pi-Ino."

Ino was smirking, magnificent blond hair pulled back into its usual ponytail. Sakura looked at a strand of pink hanging over her shoulder, wondering if she should tie it back too.

Ino had followed her gaze and with a sigh and a shake of her head, pulled an extra hair band off of her wrist and moved behind Sakura.

"Tilt your head down."

Sakura did.

Ino braided her hair.

"...So, that redhead psycho is kinda hot. Sasuke's bad-boy vibes times ten."

"I-Ino!"

"What? It's true!"

Sakura couldn't argue with that. But as she glanced at Haku, she couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. She could tell behind his mask that he alternated between staring at the grass Kunoichi and at Garra, who was now muttering to himself and clutching his forehead.

"I know, Ino, but still, he's bad news."

Haruhi would think so too.

"Yeah, I'm not dumb enough to approach him. Sasuke at least isn't a psycho." Sakura bit her tongue, resisting the urge to say she wasn't giving Sasuke enough credit. He had gotten a lot better lately, but at the same time she agreed.

"Hey Ino, if team seven has an extra scroll, we'll give it to you."

"What-oh, thanks, we will too."

"That is a good strategy. We don't know what we will face after the forest of death." Haku had appeared behind them.

"Ino, I suggest your team finish your business in the forest of death as quickly as possible, with all due haste. The longer you are in the more likely hostiles will take your scroll."

Ino was staring wide eyed at Haku, a blush dancing across her surprised face before she nodded, a determined glint in her eyes.

"Did you notice that the sound teams are gone?"

"Uh...no?" Ino and Sakura said. Truthfully, they hadn't even realized they were competing.

"But Sakura, you and Sasuke talked to one of them before the first exam started."

Sakura scrunched up her face, before she gasped in realization. They had talked to the team before meeting up with Haruhi and Kakashi-sensei. They had all taken a special interest in Sasuke, just like everyone else. She wondered how tiring it got for him, to have everyone constantly into his business.

"Oh! Kin! She seemed kinda snooty, but not too bad. Why were they booted?"

"They were booted because the circumstances surrounding them were suspicious. Their scent tracks were discovered in Konoha before admission was allowed. They are suspected of making plans that would have thrown off the entire Chunin exams and needlessly endangered Konoha genin."

"You mean, endangered them more than normal." Sakura said dryly.

"Yes."

That was surprising.

This whole test was dangerous. What could they have been planning that would have warranted them being kicked out?

Ino had the same thoughts apparently, and wanted to tell her teammates.

"Well, I better get back to my team now. Bye Sakura, and thanks, Haku."

Haku inclined his head, taking his eyes off of Gaara briefly to watch Ino's swaying blonde hair as she walked away from them.

Just what had they signed up for?

* * *

"So Kakashi, what exactly is the second part of the exam?"

Two chunin had just walked past them talking about it.

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, eye betraying his hesitation to share information with her. On one hand, Haruhi was stressed enough. She had been twisting her hair nonstop, and biting her lip. On the other hand, the truth set you free. She could feel better knowing what the kids were getting into. And he didn't like lying to her.

"It's in the Forest of Death."

Haruhi didn't look too surprised or put-out, so Kakashi took that as a good sign.

"And what is that?"

"Well, a… training ground of sorts."

"The Genin have already trained though. Why would they go there?"

He had to hand it to her. When Haruhi caught a scent, she was on it faster than one of his ninken.

"The Forest of Death is unique and special due to the fact that it is a naturally chakra dense spot. Due to the high level of Chakra in the forest, the creatures born there are… enhanced."

"Enhanced?" Haruhi asked sharply.

Ah, you really couldn't put anything past Haruhi.

"Yes, bigger, faster, taller. Things like that."

"And the kids will be up against that?"

"Yes."

"Hm, but that still doesn't answer my original question. Why there? For a challenge? That can't be the only reason."

Kakashi shook his head as his eye crinkled into a smile.

"Exposition."

"To show off?" The pure curiosity in her tone was endearing.

"Essentially. That hotspot of chakra is one of the last in the elemental nations. In fact, out of all of them, its the largest and closest to a hidden village. By showing the dangerous creatures inside and its proximity to the village, it's a show of strength on Konoha's part. And there's the fact that our hotspot is partially created by the first Hokage himself. He put years of time and effort in to the place to sustain life, and rare plants and animals. It's a reason why many of the tree are so much larger than normal."

"That's fascinating." Haruhi said, sounding genuinely intrigued, "But why is it one of the last?"

Sharp as a kunai, his Haruhi was.

"Well, officially, Konoha has been in three incredibly destructive wars. That's not even counting the skirmishes and other conflicts. High death tolls, and damage to the environment. That's the important one. The wars waged by all the elemental nations together, with their organized shinobi forces, destroyed and damaged most of the hotspots. While some still do exist in more remote areas and farther from warzones, it's a small continent, and most are gone. It's what makes this hotspot, the Forest of Death, so precious to Konoha. It's a symbol of our prosperity, that we have something that almost no one else has. That we're _naturally_ better."

Haruhi was silent for a moment.

"So what you are trying to tell me is, that Konoha has one of the last hotspots on the planet, filled with incredibly rare creatures and plants found nowhere else, and the government-Konoha, is instead of protecting it, are using it to their benefit, to show off, and stage incredibly destructive battles. Battles that would compromise all the hard work the first Hokage put into it, and the creatures living there? Does that sound right?"

"..."

Absolutely scathing, he thought admirably.

Kakashi nodded.

To his surprise, Haruhi let out a cynical laugh that made his toes curl.

"Ah, you know what, Kakashi? Maybe our worlds aren't so different after all."

* * *

The screams of pain were getting louder. They could attract attention, and in this forest, that was nothing good.

" _Oh God, Help! Karin!_ "

Sasuke pressed himself further into the bark of the giant tree and grit his teeth. The screams had turned into moans as the genin had died, and Sasuke could hear the crunch of bones grating against his eardrums.

" _Mom_ …"

He peeked over a branch just in time to see a giant bear swallow a genin whole, a twisted arm being sucked in. Blood bubbled past its maw, and Sasuke could make out the faint outline as he went down.

He wished he had turned his sharingan off, because that would haunt him for the rest of his life. But even if he had turned his eyes off, he still probably wouldn't have been able to forget it.

Sasuke desperately needed to vomit, but the sound and smell might attract the giant bear.

He imagined his bones cracking like toothpicks as he too was eaten, screams being smothered by his own blood and breathing the vile breath of the bear.

God.

Why did it have to be like this? Why was all this pain and suffering necessary in order to become a ninja? Was it because that was all a ninja life had to offer?

The giant bear's fat purple tongue licked the blood off it's sharp teeth, leaning down in order to sniff the body. The lower half was splayed against the tree roots, while the upper half was lying awkwardly on the grass. That genin had been bisected by a bear claw bigger than him.

The bear grunted, turning away from the genin and lumbering away from him-and towards Sasuke. He had a moment of panic.

His strongest fireball would only tickle the bear though it's thick fur. Blunt force wouldn't do much, and if it stood on its hind legs it could possible reach him.

To his great relief, the bear walked right past him, seemingly intent on something.

When the bear was out of sight and Sasuke couldn't hear it's heavy breathing anymore, he leaned over and threw up.

Coughing as he stood, Sasuke's brow furrowed. Not that he was complaining, but the bear probably should have attacked him next.

He then realized there was only two bodies in the clearing.

Where was the third member? Was it this Karin that one boy had shouted before he died?

Whoever this Karin was, it was probably the member with the scroll. And they were probably in trouble.

Sasuke tilted his head back and took a deep breath in. Which was a mistake. The dead boy's intestines were out, along with the partially digest food held inside. It smelled.

They probably left this Karin behind to go searching for food. That meant the she was a support fighter and stood even less of a chance than the other two.

Sasuke jumped after the bear.

He knew it was a stupid thing to do. It wasn't his responsibility to help. All he was doing was getting the scroll. Yeah. And he couldn't get it if it was in the bears stomach.

He paused.

The trees were even wider and bigger here, with all the low hanging branches gone and nothing for the bear to break or snag fur on. The ground was hard packed dirt. No paw prints.

A scream echoed from his right.

He started sprinting towards the sound before he knew what he was doing, heart pounding in his chest.

Was he too late?

He landed on a tree branch and stopped abruptly. Lurching forward before pulling back. Thank god he knew tree walking. The bear had cornered a red haired girl against the trunk of another huge tree. In her hand she was clutching an earth scroll.

They already had that one.

But Sasuke didn't move. He didn't leave.

He watched as the girl leaned down and shakily scooped a handful of dirt in her hands and threw it in the bears face. It stumbled back, eyes watering and nose twitching. It's roar shook the tree branch he was on and the girl-Karin, ran for her life, just as the giant jaws snapped closed inches behind her.

Maybe he wasn't needed after all.

But Karin was sent reeling from the motion of jumping away, and tripped over a tree root. Her glasses were sent flying into the clearing, and she hit the ground hard.

Damn it.

The bear turned it head and Sasuke saw his opportunity.

"Shishi Rendan!"

He slammed his foot over and over again into the bears skull, knocking it unconcious.

There was a beat of silence after the bear collapsed, the girl still too surprised to move and Sasuke catching his breath.

He felt like he had to throw up again.

After a moment, Sasuke straightened himself and limped over towards the girl. He had kicked so hard he bruised his foot. He stooped down and plucked her glasses from the ground. They were shaped liked Haruhi's glasses.

Perhaps it was because of that that made him clean them with the edge of his shirt. He noted that they were a bit bent. He looked and looked down only to see the girl staring up at him with wide red eyes.

He was startled for a second before he realized they weren't sharingan.

She was still looking at him.

Sasuke began to feel uncomfortable. He hated when people stared at him. He offered her a hand in order to help her up and was gratified when she stopped gawking at him and instead looked at his hand. He released a tiny sigh of relief.

She blinked in confusion, before finally, cautiously, grabbing his hand, fingers curling around his painfully slow. He tightened his grip and pulled her up, ignoring her yelp of surprise.

He checked her over for injuries, and handed her glasses back to her.

She took them in a robotic motion, to surprised to say or do anything else, and slid them on her face where they rested crookedly on her nose.

The wide red eyes were on him again, and he felt a blush curling up from his neck to his face.

He cleared his throat.

"We already have a earth scroll."

Still staring. She seemed too stunned to say anything.

Since she seemed physically fine, Sasuke turned to leave, walking carefully to the edge of the clearing. His back itched. Was she _still_ looking at him?

He turned around.

Yes she was.

Dirt covered her chin from where she had fallen, her hair was matted, the back of her jacket was shredded from the bears teeth had just barely missed her. Her skinned knees dripped blood and formed small pools around her ankles. Her glasses were askew.

'Leave her, she's fine.'

She blinked wide eyes at him again and his face flushed.

'Just leave her.'

He sighed.

"Karin."

She startled, putting a hand on her chest as if to say, 'me'?

"Yes you. Listen, do you want..."

Her fist had curled under her chin, and her lips parted slightly as she listened to him. Long red lashes blinked at him.

Sasuke found it very distracting.

"...D-do you want to come with me?" He flinched. That sounded awkward even to him. It reminded him of Kakashi-sensei.

She didn't answer.

He was just about to turn away where she finally said something.

"Yes!"

Sasuke jumped at the loud noise and scanned the treeline for enemies before turning back to her.

"Yes, well, then gather your things and come with me."

He jumped onto the lowest hanging tree branch-a good twenty feet up- and patiently waited for her.

She blushed, face stricken.

"My team…"

"...They've left you behind."

She flinched and Sasuke mentally kicked himself.

"Well?" He said, getting annoyed. He was already overdue, his team would be waiting for him.

"I can't get up there."

His eyebrows twitched. Seriously, what kind of terrible sensei signes up such an unprepared genin?

He jumped down in front of her, noting the way she flinched at his abrupt movement.

"Get on my back."

She adjusted her glasses-nervous habit, and shuffled closer. Sasuke felt like he was coaxing a skittish cat out from under his porch.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hopped onto his back. Sasuke wrapped his arms around her thighs and noted that she had no weapons on her except for one dulled kunai. He recognized the pattern on the handle. It had been the same one on the other kunai that the two dead boys had.

It looked like they had taken her weapons for themselves.

A ball of anger curled in Sasuke's stomach at the realization, and he realized he couldn't bring himself to regret asking her to come with him. There was no way she would have made it through.

He tightened his grip, and jumped onto the branch.

She gasped into his ear, breath ghosting over it and he had to repress a shiver. Her thighs tightened around his waist.

Girls.

He kept up a steady pace, heading in the direction he had came from.

"I have too much chakra."

That was a bit of an odd thing to say. But hearing her say more than one word was progress, so Sasuke didn't comment on it.

She realized this and explained.

"U-uh, I have a lot of chakra. Controlling it is harder with the amount I have, so tree walking is harder for me.

Well that explained a lot.

He grunted to show he heard.

They fell into a silence as the sun started to set, and soon crickets started chirping beneath them.

"H-how did you know my name?"

Sasuke couldn't very well tell her he heard it with her teammates dying breaths, so he improvised.

"There is a list of all the teams, with pictures and names. Your's was on there."

She fell silent.

The farther they traveled, the worse Sasuke started to feel. He paused on a tree branch and shifted so he could raise one hand to wipe his brow.

He was pretty sure they were lost.

He chewed on his lip.

"Karin."

"Yes?" She whispered behind him.

"I think we might be...lost." While Haku could no doubt find them with his sensing capabilities, it would take awhile in this chakra dense forest, and time wasn't what they had.

She was silent for awhile and Sasuke cringed, waiting for shouting to start.

"I think I can help."

To say he was caught off guard would be an understatement.

"What?"

"Describe to me how their chakra feels."

Sasuke hesitated, before doing just that. He was unaware Karin was a sensor. He turned to look back at her.

Karin's face scrunched up in concentration, and she started playing with the edge of his t-shirt.

Very distracting.

"Go left."

Sasuke went left.

"This forest...it's unlike anything I've ever been in before. There is so much chakra everywhere…"

Karin fell silent again, so Sasuke shrugged and moved on.

As he continued on, hope blossomed in his chest. He started recognizing this part of the forest. A small relieved smile worked its way across his face. He knew he made the right decision when he decided to take her along.

He paused on a tree branch, re-activating his sharingan to see in the darkness. He could just barely make out Sakura's pink hair.

"Why did you decide to take me?"

The question was so abrupt Sasuke didn't answer right away. Why did he? Sure, now he could see that it was a good decision to make, but back then, she was just some random girl who had tripped over a tree root. And she was an unknown, she was an enemy in the exams. Sure, it would be pointless to attack him. But then again, Shinobi were all about pointless suffering. Zabuza made that pretty clear.

"Because…"

Haruhi would have done it. It was the right thing to do. The way she curled her fist reminded him of Sakura and he couldn't leave her behind. And because he wasn't that man, who left people alone in pools of blood, helpless.

"...You could be useful to me."

"Is that all?" And she sounded so dejected and put out that Sasuke mentally berated himself again. Her grip on him loosened, and cool air rushed to the spots her arms had previously been covering.

"No. You were smart when throwing dirt in the bears face. You have potential, and I think it would be a shame if you died and it got wasted. And we can help each other. We escort you safely to the tower, and we have a extra pair of eyes and another sensor."

"Oh." She sounded happy.

Girls were so complicated.

"Do you really mean it?" She asked, and Sasuke started to sweat. What was he supposed to say to that?

"Yes."

A small smile crossed her face and Sasuke was startled at the difference it made. He swallowed roughly before letting her down. They could walk the rest of the way.

"I never did get your name."

"Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha."

"Thank you Sasuke-kun."

He crammed his hands in his pocket and resisted the urge to grunt. Haruhi said girls didn't like that, and that the ones that did just didn't know it yet.

"I never got your full name either."

"B-but you said you saw the paper?"

Sasuke curled his fist in his pocket. He blamed his mistake on the fact that she kept on looking at him like that.

"I didn't get the time to read it all." He said bluntly, closing his eyes and walking forward.

"Oh, well then, my name is Karin."

He opened his mouth to say he already knew that.

"Karin Uzumaki."

He ran into a tree.

* * *

 **I should really be studying for my A.P tests but I couldn't help myself! Anyway, Haruhi is suspicious, Kakashi is besotted, and Sasuke's faith in Konoha and the shinobi way of life is wavering. Good times.**

 **Many thanks to reebajee**


	33. There's Something in the Water

Ino snarled as she ripped another burr the size of an apple out of her hair. At this rate, her hair would never be clean again.

Shikamaru and Choji winced at her frustration, knowing it could be directed at them if they weren't careful. Ino had been in a mood ever since they entered the forest of death.

Ino wasn't really angry, just frustrated, confused, and _a bit worried_ -Okay, she was angry.

Angry because forehead pulled the rug out from under her, again!

She loved Sakura, and Ino valued her friends, she really did. But for the life of her, she could not figure out just what the heck she saw in Sakura's mind!

Top that off with that fact they were stuck in the exams with a red-haired psycho, the exams themselves are most likely being tampered with, and that fact that she started her period a week early made Ino a

Very,

 _Very,_

Unhappy camper.

She was rolling up bandages and sticking them down there for now, but she only had so many, and it's not like Haruhi-sensei was here to tell Ino what to do to make it better.

The elation of passing the first part of the exam had driven the matter of Sakura blocking her clan jutsu to the back of her mind. And then they were swept up when that purple-haired jounin blew in the room and knocked everyone off their feet. Ino just didn't have much time to think about it.

And then, to top it off, Ino finds out the shady background of the exam, that someone probably tampered with it when she had walked over to Sakura to talk to her.

So of course, she had to go and tell her teammates right away. Can you imagine if she didn't? Something this important needed to have at least three of Shikamaru's backup plans.

But, anyway, Sakura.

Sakura.

It may sound like she is making a big deal out of nothing, but let her put it this way.

The Yamanaka clan has existed for centuries. The entire history of Konoha was a blink of the eye to them.

And during that time, her clan has been tediously perfecting, experimenting, and improving their clan jutsus, but none more than the mind-body-transfer.

The great Uchiha clan of the warring states couldn't even block it. The best they could do was mitigate it, even with their sharingan.

Some of the best warriors who ever existed had fallen prey to it. Once you were trapped in a Yamanaka's jutsu, you couldn't escape.

Except for Sakura, apparently.

What.

The.

Hell.

Her scowl deepened, giving her slight frown lines. The boys didn't dare comment.

While there were exceptions to the mind body transfer, like being made of intense, toxic chakra, it still wasn't the same.

When Sakura kicked Ino out of her mind, it was almost like there was another person in Sakura's head.

Ino immediately thought of a multiple personality disorder, but even then, that didn't make sense.

Typically, its only one personality manifested at a time in the head, and certainly not two. And even then, it didn't explain how it ejected her from Sakura's head.

This was entirely new.

That fact that a _civilian-born_ ninja defeated a centuries perfected clan jutsu would make the clan elders have an entire barn.

And that fact that Ino would be committing treason against her clan for not reporting this.

Sakura was her best friend/rival, and they had their differences in the past, but Ino cared for Sakura like a sister, and she needed to protect her.

Because if Ino's suspicions were true- and they almost always were- then Sakura had developed an entirely new bloodline limit.

That was a huge deal. Gigantic, really.

Ever since the villages were founded some one hundred years ago, the number of bloodlines has rapidly decreased. The organization, and the extra man power that the Ninja villages provided made wars extremely destructive. Entire bloodlines were wiped out, some before they even could really develop.

If Sakura really did have a new bloodline- which Ino was sure she did- then it would be beyond priceless.

A new bloodline hasn't appeared in years.

There would be a bounty on Sakura's head. People would force her out of the dangerous shinobi path and try to make her pump out kids. Her clan elders would want Ino to bring her best friend in, and try to figure out a way around it.

And Ino was sure is wouldn't be pleasant.

Ino's father of course, would try to hold them back, but there would be very little he could do against the crotchety clan elders.

But then again, Ino had to tell him. Sakura clearly had no idea about her bloodline, and if she did, didn't understand the implications or the severity behind it. This could rock her world, the bad way. Ino didn't fault Sakura for not understanding, she was, after all, a civilian-borne.

Ino knew telling her dad was the best course of actions, but would Sakura understand?

Sakura was from a civilian family, with a retired father who only made it to genin, and an electrician mother. They had very little political power in the village. They wouldn't be able to protect Sakura.

So Ino had to.

With new found resolve, Ino stood up from her squat and made sure the bandages were in place.

Only to curse when she hit her head on a tree branch.

Could you blame a girl for being in a bad mood?

As Ino turned towards her teammates and headed out to hunt down another team, she couldn't help but wonder if Sakura knew the danger she was in.

* * *

"Kakashi...I feel weird."

Kakashi, who had been reading his book, immediately snapped his eye to Haruhi who was splayed out on her back on Kakashi's thigh.

"How?"

Well, for one, Haruhi could feel a migraine coming on. Her face and hands were beginning to tingle and her vision was blurry. And it's not like she could take medicine for it either, since any amount would likely be an overdose for her.

Two, she could feel her chakra bubbling and rolling under her skin. It was extremely uncomfortable.

And three, she was anxious about the kids to the point of throwing up.

"There's something off with my Chakra," She admitted, "It feels like its alive or something." Haruhi didn't want to tell Kakashi at first, since he was such a mother hen, but it was gettin to the point where she couldn't ignore it anymore.

Kakashi didn't relax, his eye creasing in worry, and look, she was back at it again, upsetting other people.

"I did notice it felt differently, but I'm no sensor. It's probably stress. Let me know if there's anything I can do."

Haruhi nodded. She didn't tell him, but the only thing he could do to make her feel better was sending her back to her world so she could pretend like none of this ever happened.

And yes, that was an incredibly selfish thing to think, but Haruhi was sick of this place and its giant corrupt shinobi system. She'd take America's flawed democracy any day over this bullshit. At least the real world had WiFi.

* * *

When Sasuke went missing, they worried. Not too much, granted, as he was extremely talented. But when he appeared hours later, with a mysterious girl on his back, they freaked out.

Sakura tried valiantly to squash down her jealousy.

It wasn't working.

Sakura knew that this girl was most likely all alone. Sasuke wouldn't bring her with him if he thought that her teammates would follow. A part of Sakura knew they were dead, but just didn't want to admit it.

Sakura felt bad for her. She remembered the feeling when they were fighting Zabuza and she thought he was going to kill Sasuke, and it was something she didn't want to repeat.

But at the same time, Sakura worked hard to get to where she was, and this girl made her feel like she was being replaced. It had been a huge blow to her confidence to realize that despite being the number one kunoichi, Sakura would never get above genin if she didn't step it up.

Being in a shinobi village wasn't the easiest for civilians, and civilian born ninja. They were often treated as less that clan people. Her father was the first ninja in his family, and despite having enormous potential, he was shunted sideways into the genin corps when his sensei failed his team because he wanted clan kids. So her dad, another boy, and a purple haired girl had to fend for themselves.

Her mother had a permanent scar on her back from a work accident. She had gone to the hospital straight away, but since she was a civilian and not a shinobi, her injury had been deemed as a non priority. Her mom was forced to fill out papers and sit in the waiting room for hours while blood dripped down her back and into her buttocks and onto the chair.

Sakura and her dad were near hysterical with worry when they finally thought to get to the hospital, where they found her in tears in soiled clothes.

Her mom did eventually get healed, but that was only because her father was able to prove he was a genin. Or else they would have sent her home with bandages and painkillers.

Even today, Sakura couldn't understand why a medic couldn't spend a few minutes to heal the gash. The third shinobi war was was long over by then, so it wasn't like they didn't have any medics to spare.

Well, that was a lie. She did know. It was because they were civilians.

It was part of the reason Sakura felt more comfortable around Haruhi-sensei than Kakashi-sense, because she was a civilian too. Sakura saw it in Haruhi's face sometimes, the feeling of not fitting into the shinobi world, and her heart went out for her. It really did. Being raised in a civilian family meant they had little power throughout the village, but it also meant that Sakura was raised in a healthy environment, with loving parents.

Not to say that shinobi made terrible families, just look at Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. But those three were the exceptions.

Shinobi kids were expected from birth to do one thing, and there was constant pressure. Just look at Hinata, now a stuttering mess, Sasuke with no parents, and Naruto had no parents either. And with chakra reserves like that, there is no way his parents were civilians.

Same thing goes for Kakashi-sensei, TenTen, and Rock Lee.

Its that familiar faint look of disbelief on Haruhi-sensei's face whenever she sees something otherwise considered horrific that shinobi just brush off. Like the honeypot missions aka, the seduction missions that Sakura would no doubt have been shunted into if it wasn't for her academic rankings.

But still, even regarding all that, being a shinobi meant you had power. It meant you could defend yourself, and go outside of Konoha without waiting for days at a time to get it cleared.

It meant getting treated right away.

Being a civilian would have been an easy choice to make, but Sakura was sick of being considered weak.

Sakura knew she had excellent chakra control, partially due to her small reserves. She had received her evaluation in the mail marking her as a budding genjutsu mistress, and a medic nin.

That last part was weird.

Walking into the hospital to register for medic training and tests after the Wave mission had also been weird, since she could see the exact chair her normally smiling mother had sat on while she cried and bled and filled out tedious paperwork instead of being treated.

Sakura breathed deeply, trying to calm herself at the memory.

Tree bark cracked under her grip.

Sakura promised herself that she would be a better medic than the one that "treated" her mother. It was her dream now, to open clinics where everyone could be treated, and not have to sit in their own pool of blood because they weren't deemed important enough.

Whatever that meant.

It was why Sakura worked so hard in the academy, and poured over books. But her book smarts would do no good if she didn't have the physically capabilities to react to a threat. Or else all she'd be was a desk nin.

It was why she had idolized Ino, and then Sasuke. Because they were clan kids, and they had things that she just didn't. And they didn't even realize it!

When Sakura went with Haku to help Ino sign up, it had been so different from when Sakura had signed up! They questioned Sakura, regarded her with doubt and skepticism, And it was all she could do to keep inner restrained.

 _"Sharanno! Jerks!"_ Inner shouted.

They grilled her for answers, and then held off on giving her an internship-despite being number one academically in her class- and instead waited three whole weeks to grant her access to minor parts of the hospital. And it would have been longer, had it not been for Haruhi-sensei and Kakashi-sensei helping her.

But when Ino went to register for an internship, she had been greeted with warm smiles. They accepted her right away, and only gave her one week of wait time instead of three, and immediately granted her access to minor parts of the hospital. It was like all of Sakura's hard work was nothing in the face of being born into a clan.

But training every morning with Lee and Gai-sensei, and then genjutsu training with Sasuke and Kurenai-Sensei finally made her feel like she was making progress. That she was a real ninja, and that she wasn't less for being the daughter of a first generation shinobi and a civilian. Sakura finally felt like she belonged in this world.

And then this girl shows up out of nowhere. A girl who is a natural sensor with a crazy amount of chakra and apparently held off a bear bigger than a house.

A girl that gained Sasuke's respect in minutes when it took Sakura years.

Maybe the new girl could hear her teeth grinding because she looked at Sakura and flinched when she caught her eye, looking away just as quickly.

Good.

Maybe Sakura was being mean, but whatever. Sakura was here first.

And then she told them her name.

Karin Uzumaki.

Uzumaki.

"You...Uzumaki? That's your name?" Naruto spoke with disbelief, shouting toned down to words just barely above a whisper.

The girl nodded, looking confused and nervous.

Sakura was frozen with disbelief. Sasuke didn't look surprised, he just sat there and continued to rub his bruised forehead. Sakura wanted to ask how he got that bruise, but her mouth refused to form words.

" _She's lying!"_ Inner screeched in fury.

"My last name is Uzumaki to." Naruto spoke. It was quiet and soft and careful, like a parent tucking in their child, and for a moment, Sakura forgot to be angry at this new girl.

She had seen Naruto speechless before, but never like this.

His eyes were filled with a desperate hope, his shoulders were drawn in on themselves, making him seem even shorter.

"You have the chakra of an Uzumaki." Kar- _the girl_ , whispered.

Haku watched the two of them interact intensely.

"You are a sensor." Haku stated.

The girl jumped like a scared rabbit, before nervously pushing up her glasses, and Sakura hated how it reminded her of Haruhi-sensei.

"Yes."

"She is." Sasuke finally spoke, still nursing his throbbing head. "She was how I was able to find my way back. She also has another earth scroll that we can use as leverage."

Naruto blinked.

"Are we related?" He whispered. What Sasuke and Haku said didn't seem to register.

"Well, was one of your parents an Uzumaki?" the girl couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from Naruto, and Sakura was pleased, because it meant she wasn't staring at Sasuke.

"Well, if Karin is to be staying with us, we can help her back to the tower. But right now we need to set up camp."

Haku flicked quick hand signs at Sakura. He had checked out her field, and she apparently had no hostile intent towards them.

Sakura and Sasuke moved to follow Haku's orders, but Karin and Naruto stayed still, in shock that there was still family out there.

She didn't sign up for this.

* * *

Ino was between a rock and a hard place.

"Take the scroll and run!" Shikamaru shouted. His voice sounded nasally, due to the fact that he was being held upside down from the ankle by a hulking genin from Kiri.

The two others- a girl with long blue hair and another girl with sharp teeth, had Choji pressed into the dirt. The girl with seaweed colored hair and sharp teeth bared her mouth into a grin, pressing her kunai into Choji's throat, and Ino felt a rush of anger.

Game on, bitch.

Ino's eyes narrowed, flickered back and forth between the two of them and the Genin. The male had bound Shikamaru's fingers, so he couldn't do his shadow possession jutsu.

The two girls had trapped a Human Boulder Choji in a hidden swamp, destroying his momentum and then tying him up.

Ugh, Ino wasn't a frontline fighter!

Ino grit her teeth and ran, vines ripping past her face.

" _Wait, come back, Shikamaru was jokin_ -"Choji's scared, desperate shout was cut off as Ino jumped into the ravine she had seen earlier. She bit back as scream as she hurtled to the bottom. Her arm lashed out, kunai digging into the mossy rock and slowing her fall.

She landed on the damp bottom, mossy bits getting into her sandals. It was at least ten degrees cooler, very shady and dark, and very, very, narrow.

Seaweed green hair flashed out from the corner of her eyes at the very top of the ravine before Ino ducked into a cave, nail catching on a craggily rock, loosening pebbles that crackled to the ground.

It echoed across the ravine as Ino retreated into the cave. She could feel her breath crystallizing in the coolness of the cave, and she reached her arms out in front of her, scroll buried in her sports bra, and she tried to ignore the gush of blood she felt in her underwear.

That seaweed head was going to pay.

She hissed in pain when her fingers cracked against a stone wall.

"Nowhere to run~" A voice cooed behind her.

Ino whirled around, hair brushing against the wall as she turned to face the Kiri Genin. There was a twisted sort of smile on her face, like a piece of rope tied in a figure eight. Her eyes gleamed in the darkness, and her seaweed green hair was blocking out most of the light from the cave entrance..

Ino got into position, eyes glinting like metal knives.

" _You're going to fight? Cute_ ~" Seaweed girl's eyes widened in manic delight, and she _lunged_.

They tussled in close combat for a bit, seaweed girl biting Ino's arm with her sharp teeth. Ino screamed, and headbutted her, her forehead-protector bashing the girls nose.

She let out a garbled scream, blood rushing down her broken nose, and Ino took the opportunity to grab the girl and throw her over her hip into the back of the cave.

Ino caught her breath, but before she could get into position, she was choking on water. Ino tried to close her mouth, but water flooded her nostrils and into her lungs.

There had been a puddle at the bottom of the cave.

Seaweed girl snarled in rage, hands out and manipulating the water bubble around Inos head as Ino fell to her knees, drowning on land. She wished Sakura was here, because her element was water too, and last time Ino checked, she had the basics down.

Her eyes stung and she felt like her nostrils and throat were on fire as the sandy water forced its way into her lungs and stomach.

" _Just take deep breaths_ ~" Seaweed taunted, shark teeth glinting in the back of the cave.

If Ino didn't do something, and fast, she would die, and so would her teammates.

But Ino is _trapped,_ And she's _scared_ , and her vomit and tears mix with the already dirty water, obstructing her vision.

In a sweeping kick she had learned from Rock Lee from cross team training, Ino sent a rock hurtling towards Seaweed's face.

Seaweed screamed as the rock connected with her already broken nose, and let go of the jutsu, hunching over in pain.

Ino needed to make her move.

Hands moving so fast they were a blur, Ino performed the mind transfer jutsu at the girl just standing up at the back of the cave.

A familiar rush, and suddenly Ino was howling in pain, clutching her face. A dull thunk rang out as her original body fell to the cave floor.

Ino quickly deadened the nerves in her-seaweed girls face, and quickly cracked the nose into place. Ino didn't quite have the healing jutsu down yet, but she new jutsus to get rid of the swelling, and she scoops some of the silty water to wash away the blood.

All the while, seaweed girl rages in the background, trapped in her own mind, and unable to control her body.

Ino smirked.

Her trap had been successful. Since Shikamaru was tied up, Ino knew she couldn't rely on him to keep a target steady for her to take over. So she had purposefully led the girl into the ravine, and into a cramped space where she couldn't move or dodge.

Ino walked over and quickly checked her still body for signs of damage. It looked alright, as she landed in the wet sand. Ino checked to make sure the scroll was still in her bra, the quickly lifted the body over her shoulders.

Was it weird, to be carrying herself?

Yes, yes it was.

Ino looked to her left and noticed a tiny red-but quickly growing-stain on her shorts and scowled something fierce.

Those two owed her for this.

The exited the cave back into the mossy ravine, and looked upwards.

Channeling chakra to the bottoms of her feet, Ino cautiously stuck her foot to the ravine wall, and then the other. A couple more pebbles clattered down, but her feet stuck, and Ino shuffled upwards.

She had to squat where it became particularly thin, but she made it to the sandy forest floor, and shifted her pliable body across her shoulders.

She then marched straight towards the clearing.

"Nice! You got the runaway!" The hulking genin gloated.

Shikamaru and Choji gasped in horror, looking at her limp body being held over her borrowed shoulders. They were both tied on the ground with chakra restricting rope.

Ino let the same twisted smile crossed her face, and hoped it looked convincing enough. Ino giggled, and god, that felt weird in this body, and took out a kunai. Riffling through the girls mind, Ino then spoke what she thought the girl might have said.

" _Gonna search her now."_

"You do that." Said the girl with the blue hair shortly.

"How did you catch her?" The hulking genin asked.

" _Dumb girl trapped in a cave."_ Ino giggled again, fingers twitching over her leg.

"Alright!" The hulking boy laughed uproariously before speaking again, "I guess we can kill them now," And to Ino's horror, they drew out two kunai and pressed them to Shikamaru's and Choji's throats.

She hisses.

They pause, and stare up at her in confusion.

" _Use them as leverage. They know things about Konoha genin."_

The two looked at each other and shrugged. Ino's heart beat rapidly in her chest as she squashed down her sigh of relief.

"I will scout ahead. We could camp overnight in the cave system." The blue-haired girl said curtly, then left the two of them in the clearing.

One down.

As much as it pained her, Ino dumped her body across the ground and almost winced when some dirt got on her face, ruining her complexion. And her eyeliner was smudged too.

Just great.

"You search her, I watch them." Ino said in seaweed girls normal singsong voice.

The hulking genin grunted, walking past her and kneeling down. He then proceeded to take his time checking her over for traps, and emptying her pockets.

"You won't get away with this," And it hurts to hear Choji, normally so kind, spit words like that at her, but she can't focus on that now. She needs to pay attention.

While her medic training had been progressing smoothly, Ino was no Haku.

Mmn, Haku…

Ino tried not to let the dreamy smile slide across her face.

He was just... so...cool. Literally.

Ino still though Sasuke was all well and fine, but he could never talk medical terms to her like Haku did. And honestly, what a sense of style to. A perfect gentleman. And sure, while his hair was terribly damaged, he could do amazing up-doo's with it-

She shook her head.

Focus.

The point was, Haku was older and more experienced and accurate than her. She could never take the hulking genin in a one-on-one fight, much less with two teammate to protect. She needed to wait for him to shift into the perfect position. She needed to go for the points in his neck, and she needed to do it quick.

Hulky shifted, reaching into one of Ino's pockets-he didn't think to check her bra.

Ino sprang forward, and with a chop of her hand, slammed it into the back of his neck.

He went down like a cut tree, and for one hysterical second, she was tempted to shout timber.

She grunted when she caught his body, keeping him from crushing hers, and ignored the gasps of surprise from the boys behind her.

She laid it down on the sandy ground, and then turned to the flabbergasted boys behind her.

"Missed me?" She grinned cockily, putting her hands on her hips.

Shikamaru figured it out first.

"Ino?" He gasped, before breaking out into a grin when Ino nodded her borrowed head.

Ino quickly untied the ropes around their wrists.

They searched hulky's body, and were extremely gratified to find an earth scroll and another heaven scroll, and they quickly pocketed both. One of the other Konoha teams might need one.

"Heres they plan, boys. We wait for her to get back, and hide hulky over here in the bushes. When she comes back we ambush her."

They nodded, rubbing their sore wrists before loosely putting the ropes back on.

She set up traps around the clearing, and waited.

It wasn't long before the blue-haired genin came back, face as impassive as ever. She paused, looking at Ino's still body, and Ino started to become nervous.

"Wheres Kubo?"

Ino panicked, before realizing it was hulky.

She hummed, staying in character and jerked her neck towards the bushes, and mimed unzipping her fly and pulling something out.

"You're guarding?" Blue asked again, and Ino nodded again. Blue gave her yet another unreadable expression, before leaning over Ino's body to continue looking for the scroll.

Just a little more…

"Shadow Possession complete!"

The girl screamed as she was paralyzed in place by Shikamaru. It was loud and horrendous, and echoed across the sandy clearing.

Ino ran forward, and quickly knocked her out.

They cheered and applauded, relieved to be alive, and quickly got up. Saying a quick goodbye to seaweed, Ino knocked her out and felt herself rush back to her original body.

Seaweed fell back to the floor, nose re-creaking on impact and blood flooding into the sand, and Ino almost winced.

Almost.

She stretched, and winced at another rush of blood leaked past the bandages.

She was leaning over to pick up all the things hulky had dropped, when a chill went up her spine. One of her senbon disappeared into the sand, and Ino screamed, quickly jumping up into the trees, Choji and Shikamaru not far behind.

And then the ground _exploded._

Sand rushed past her like a hurricane, and she screamed again, unable to jump away because it was everywhere, and through the whistling of swirling sand, Ino could only make out one thing;

" _Mother is hungry for you."_

* * *

 **Who is this bloodthirsty stranger? Will Sakura accept Karin? And will they all make it out alive?! Find out next time on DragonBall Z!**

 **Hahaha finals and A.P is in a few days, literally my own forest of death, so I'm so kin with Ino and Sakura right now.**

 **To all my readers in the middle of testing season, I wish you the best of luck. And I'm giving arcs to the female characters because, apparently, Kishimoto can't be bothered.**

 **Question of the chapter:What do you think of Ino's growth?**


	34. Common Ground

Hinata was never sure of herself, but the last few months had sent her into inner turmoil.

She had been thrown into a tailspin of insecurity, unsureness, and self doubt. It felt like she was caught in a whirlpool about to go under, or in the sink, circling the drain.

Hinata knew she was a horrible person.

Ever since she was younger, she had always known.

Talentless, meek, shy, weak, even compared to other girls.

Especially to other girls.

The one good thing about the Hyuga clan, is that they treated their females with respect. The Gentle Fist style was based on flexibility, agility, and Chakra control, traits that were common in Kunoichi. As such, her clan wasn't like the Nara, who viewed women as things that were nice, but better in the peripheral.

But none of that seemed to matter when is came to Hinata, who was weak even despite being the former heiress.

When put up against Ino, Sakura, or Tenten, all the girls were strong, and confident, and _Growing outward,_ while all Hinata could do was shrink back into her jacket with her dumb chubby stomach.

Hinata hated that she was jealous, but she couldn't help it.

She originally didn't have a crush on Naruto. She had admired him because he never gave up. He was treated worse than her, but everytime, he got back up.

She watched him from afar, wishing she could build up the courage, talk to him, ask him how he did it, how he let their barbed words roll off his back like water, but words escaped her.

People like Naruto, had it so much worse than her, so why did she feel so bad?

Neji lost both of his parents, was forced to carry the cursed seal, because Hinata got kidnapped, and because of that, the scared clan elders sealed all the kids early.

Hinata failed everyone.

Hanabi, her little sister, most of all.

Hinata tried, she didn't want to fight her little sister for the position of heiress. But she knew she had to.

She needed to save her sister from that, from being bulldozed, crushed under the heel of the clan elders. Broken down to pieces, so she could be built up in the way they wanted her too. Cold, mercyless, in charge of their clan.

In charge of the cursed seal.

The seal that kept the majority of their family enslaved. That kind of power in the hands of a child would be disaster, and her sweet little sister was already becoming closed off, and stoic, at the age of nine she spoke like she was decades older, and viewed Hinata not as an older sister, but an obstacle to overcome.

Hanabi looked so much like the mother Hinata had lost, and every step of the fight hurt. Tears bubbled into Hinata's eyes, as she looked at the face so like her mother's, the mother who she promised to to protect her baby sister, and _she couldn't._

 _She couldn't raise a hand against her baby sister._

It had only been three and a half years since she lost the fight, and already, the damage was extensive.

But Hinata was weak, and that moment of faltering cost Hanabi her childhood.

She would never forgive herself.

Hinata and Hanabi were different with how they dealt with pain. Hanabi grew cold, and emotionless, and Hinata became flustered, doubtful of herself.

But both of them rotated inwards.

Hanabi was hurting, and there was nothing Hinata could to to save her.

In her position on the forest floor on all fours, Hinata spat out a mouthful of blood as Neji spoke.

"So, this is the main branch." Disdain dripped from his voice like poison. He got into position, palms up and flat as he waited for Hinata to get up.

She couldn't save Hanabi.

Just like how there was nothing she could do to save herself now. It seemed Hinata was destined to fight her family and lose, no matter what.

His foot swung up lighting fast, kicking into her stomach and flipping her over and over, until she rolled to a stop in a ditch, her blood now mixing in with mud.

Her tears streaked down her cheeks, and she flinched when Neji spat, some of the spit getting on her face.

" _Pathetic._ Get up and fight." His words were like knives.

How many times had she been called pathetic in her life? By her father, the clan elders, the main branch, her peers.

It was in the sneers directed her way, the cheap clothes her father forced her to wear, his own way of saying how little he valued her. It was in the lack of training mandated by her elders, to keep her weak, and the laughs of her former classmates.

Pathetic.

He grabbed her hair, bony fingers cracking against her scalp as he pulled her up, only to slammed his knee into her solar plexus.

She crumpled, arms crossing over her stomach as she desperately fought for air that was driven out of her lungs.

Pathetic.

Hinata let out a gurgled scream as Neji cracked her nose with a well placed palm strike. Then again, what did she expect from the Hyuga prodigy?

Hinata had let everyone who had ever loved her down, her Mother, Neji,

 _Hanabi._

She deserved this.

Because she was pathetic.

Just like how grass was green, Dango was sweet, and Neji was better than her.

"Why won't you fight?" Neji snarled in frustration, palm striking her so she stumbled backwards.

Hinata then realized he wasn't blocking her chakra points. He must not have thought she was worth it.

He was right. She wasn't a threat to him.

" _You. The Main Branch_." Vitriol rolled off his tongue. "Not so high and mighty now, are you?"

Hinata wanted so say that she didn't want to be born into the main branch. She didn't want to see the branch family, _her_ family enslaved by a stupid pointless seal. She didn't want to use other Hyuga as cannon fodder. She didn't ask to be born into the main family.

The branch family had the cursed seal, but the main family was the truly cursed ones.

But at the same time, Hinata wanted to scream.

She wanted to yell, and shout, wail out her heart at Neji. Her normal meek self was horrified at the thought, but the Hinata of the past few months was _enraged._

Her teeth grinded together, mud squelched through her clenched fingers.

She was seething.

She was Mad, So, so mad. Hinata kept it in, because she deserved it, but Hinata may have been born into the main branch,

 _But she was_ _ **nothing like them.**_

"-ain Branch is full of cowards who hide behind seals they brand on children like cattle, they inflate their own importance, leave the best jutsu for themselves, the best foods, and clothes for themselves. They take and they take, and never give back, treat us like lesser beings-"

Hinata screamed.

Long and hard and loud, it echoed among the treetops, scaring away any birds that might have remained.

It started Neji into stillness and silence.

Hinata continued to scream, not in fear, but in rage. It echoed off of the trees, scared birds away, and rang in the stillness of the forest like bells.

How dare he?!

Everyday, she watches as Habani retreats further and further into herself. The bright vibrant, mischievous personality of her younger self is crushed like a bug.

Everyday, she deal with the sly comments from the elders, telling her that she is unwanted, useless, lesser, helpless.

Everyday, she is confronted with the reality of her situation like a raging bull, that she is helpless in her own household. She cannot save Hanabi. She cannot give her mother's soul peace. She cannot save herself, in that compound. She cannot leave, and yet she feels like she cannot stay there a second longer _or she'll rip out her hair-_

Her screaming cuts off.

" _You think I don't know?!_ " It's so different from Hinata usual meek self that Neji remains frozen, byakugan eyes wide in shock. She didn't even stutter.

Her chest starts heaving with suppressed sobs, irritating the huge bruise forming above her belly button.

"You think I-I don't know what it's like to be helpless in my own home? To watch everyday as the people I love are crushed! You don't think I know what's it's like to feel helpless at the feet of my father, the clan elders?Y-you t-think I don't know what it's like to hate _myself each and everyday?! To b-be told I'm less for just being me? For caring?_ "

" _ **You don't have the curse seal on your head!**_ " Neji roared.

He charged towards her, chakra lighting up his hands.

This is it.

He reared upwards, chakra laden hands going to the chakra gait at her heart.

Time froze.

He was going to kill her. He was going to stop her heart.

Her heart roared in her ears and air rushed around his deadly palm strike. His eyes zeroed in with a manic focus right below her collarbone, intent on stopping her life for good.

Hinata's hand shot upwards, lit with chakra and struck the gate at the base of Neji's neck, her other hand shot forward, blocking Neji's attack by deadening all the chakra points in both of his arms.

He fell to the ground, temporarily paralyzed. Hinata panted harshly, hands on her knees.

She was done with being everyone's punching bag.

So, _so,_ done.

The clearing was dead silent for a moment, and Hinata briefly reveled in disbelief at the fact that she had just taken Neji down in two moves. He had really underestimated her, and maybe she had too.

It was a novel thought, finally winning over someone, something, but looking down at Neji in the dirt, she was unable to feel a sense of victory, even considering all the bruises on her body.

She immediately felt guilty at herself for enjoying her victory over Neji. He wasn't the clan elders. He wasn't her father.

His face was squashed into the dirt, eyes wide and seeing everything and yet nothing. He looked...defeated. Hopeless.

She turned him over so he could breath, then sat down heavily.

"..."

Hinata expected him to be screaming at the top of his lungs, but instead he was dead silent.

"...How? It was my destiny to kill you." Neji said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Hinata didn't know what to say. She never thought anything like this would happen.

"...Why didn't you use it."

Hinata flinched, eyes wide.

"The punishment of a Branch member attacking a Main branch member is death. I know you can use the curse seal, Hinata. You were heiress first. Why didn't you?"

"I-I don't want to kill you!"

"And yet you killed my father."

Hinata exhaled harshly, tears dripping down her face again.

"D-do you think I wanted to be kidnapped? Do you think I wanted your f-father to die?" It came out tired, and worn, and Hinata was almost surprised, except she was too emotionally exhausted to be anything else.

Because she _was_ tired.

So, _so tired._

Everyone judged her. No one bothered to see anything else in her but a shy nervous girl who could only stutter when she spoke.

They judged her when she was kidnapped when she was three years old, and how she because quiet and scared after that. She was judged for being unable to go to the academy when her mother died, too upset to learn. She was judged when she couldn't strike her little sister who had her mother's face, and she was judged when she didn't make it to the top of the class, because she was scared of being put down by her clan since she didn't know the material.

Neji's eyes stared into nothing.

"I-I know what's it's like to feel helpless. P-powerless. Like n-nothing you do matters, b-because, at the end of the day. You're stuck."

His eyelashes fluttered.  
"Y-you feel like you can't do a-anything! That you are considered l-lesser for that, and like you c-can't change that."

Hinata sniffed, and wiped her face.

"I'm s-sorry your father died Neji."

He grit his teeth and screwed up his face in grief and anger. It was clearly killing him to hear her speak and apologize to him.

But they both needed to hear this.

"What h-happened to him was wrong. He shouldn't have had to d-die, and I will never be able to say sorry e-enough."

He had closed his eyes at this point.

"B-but I didn't want to be k-kidnapped. I-I didn't want your father to die, and I don't w-want any of the _branch family to be sealed_!"

Neji's snapped open in shock.

To talk openly and disapprovingly of the curse seal was treason in the Hyuga clan. Many a branch family member have gotten their brains liquefied because of it. Some Main family members were killed too.

But Hinata was serious. She, _she hated it_. They shouldn't have to live like this. The Branch family and the main family were still family, and you're supposed to protect family.

Family was precious.

It was a lesson she had learned when her mother had died, suddenly and without explanation, and Hinata found her cold in her bed.

She learned it whenever she saw Hanabi, eyes growing colder and lifeless as she was shaped into heiress.

It was when Sasuke Uchiha came to school, transformed from a boy she made sandcastles with to one who sat hungry at lunch because his family, his mother had died too and he didn't know how to cook.

It was now, looking down at her cousin who had just tried to kill her, and wanting to help him and everyone else remove the curse seal.

Even if it cost her her life.

Hinata was done with rolling over and showing her stomach. She would be like Sakura now, growing stronger and doing her best. And maybe Hinata couldn't change anything, but she could try, because what the Main family was doing was wrong.

Neji was staring at her now, eyes wide in incomprehension.

"You would remove the seals if you could." It was a question and a statement all in one.

She nodded firmly, narrowed eyes and trembling lips daring him to tell her no.

He blinked.

Once, twice, and then started crying.

Nothing like Hinata's ugly gross sobs, where her fat face scrunched up, but tears that rolled off his cheeks like rain drops off a window.

His face didn't scrunch up, but smoothed out, too drained to pull an expression.

Hinata leaned down, and with her hand not cupping her broken nose, she brushed dirt off of his face. She readjusted his headband so it covered the curse mark.

"W-what has happened to you is wrong, brother. A-and everyone else too. From t-the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry, a-and I will do everything in my power to help y-you and everyone else too."

Neji didn't respond for awhile, tears still silently streaming down his face. Hinata activated her byakugan, to see if his chakra points were still blocked.

They were, but before Hinata removed them, she wanted to hear what Neji had to say.

He takes a deep breathe, and then another, and finally speaks.

"...I will help you."

Even with his stuffed nose, he still spoke regularly and properly, even if his voice cracked a little. He was looking away from Hinata

She blinked in shock, before smiling gently.

Hinata knew a part of her should be mad at him for attacking her, and a part of her was upset at that. But she understood.

How could she hate Neji when she understood exactly why he did it?

How could she hate him for having the courage she never had- to stand up to someone in the main branch?

She was upset with him for trying to kill her. She would have to be disturbed to not be. But she didn't hate him for it.

"I'm going to unblock y-your chakra points. Will y-you remain calm if I do?"

Neji's face remained passive in shock, but her eyes reveal his chakra swirl in surprise.

He nodded.

Hinata slowly and carefully unblocked his chakra pathways.

Neji remained silent throughout, and Hinata could feel, rather than see, his eyes on her with her byakugan, but said nothing, focused on unblocking his network. It was substantially harder than blocking it in the first place.

Finally, after sweating over Neji for minutes, Hinata unblocked the last point in his neck.

He was still for a moment, and Hinata leaned away to give him room to get up.

He sat up slowly, propping his torso up onto his elbows.

He still seemed to be in shock. He kept on opening and closing his hands, just looking at them, and then at her.

He couldn't seem to believe it.

Neither could Hinata.

She held out her hand to him, to help him up from his place in the dirt.

He quietly turned to stare at her hand, at her open palm and slightly extended thumb. There was blood on the knuckles, and dirt around the fingertips. It was open and welcoming.

Neji reached up slowly and took it.

Hinata released a breath she didn't know she was holding. She pulled Neji up, being mindful of his sore arm and neck. His hand tightened fractionally around her's, almost as if he too was suspended in a state of disbelief.

He stood to his full height, a few inches taller than Hinata, but didn't let go of her hand. And despite his height over her, Hinata didn't feel small anymore.

"Whats going on here!?"

Startled, they jumped apart, Hinata wincing at her sides.

Team Gai, Team seven, and her own team, Team eight. There were two others, Haku, and a girl who she had never seen before, with bright red hair, who was staying very close to Naruto.

Hinata was suddenly very aware of the blood dripping from her nose and the various cuts and bruises across her hunched figure.

Kiba snarled and Shino's bugs rose in an agitated cloud as they jumped in front of her.

"You were trying to kill her!" Kiba growled, and Hinata wanted to protest, but Kiba was right.

"R-really, everyone calm down!"

Silence.

Wow, was that her? Her voice had take on an almost authoritative quality to it, and considering she almost never spoke above a whisper, her shouting stunned everyone into silence.

"Hinata, are you alright? Karin and Haku said they sensed something." It was Naruto.

Naruto was talking. To her.

Hinata's face became alarming red and she swayed on the spot, the leaves blurring into splotches of green.

Kiba grabbed her arm, alarmed.

Hinata blinked furiously, then righted herself, forcing down her blush.

"It's o-okay, really. We were j-just..talking."

"You have injuries. Why? Because he 'talked' with his fists." Shino said, voice agitated.

Neji squared his jaw defensively, and his teammates moved to his sides as Hinata's teammates tensed beside her.

"W-wait-"

But before Hinata could sing another single word, the red-haired girl-Karin, screamed.

They all jumped.

"What!?" Sakura snapped at Karin, startled. They weights on her arms and legs moved as Sakura shifted into a fighting stance.

"I sense it too!" Haku's voice was urget, with a tint of fear, and Hinata and Neji activated their byakugan.

If Haku, calm, composed Haku was scared, then they all better start praying.

" _What is that!?_ " Neji gasped in shock.

Hinata strained her range, and there on the edge of her vision, she saw it.

A bright blob of monstrous, seething, chakra, and three smaller ones in front of it. The smaller signatures were completly dwarfed by the huge one shining like a sun, flickering in terror.

Without waiting for the others to catch up, Hinata jumped into the trees and called out behind her.

" _We need to m-move! Team Ten is in Trouble!"_

* * *

 **Things are picking up steam now. And I wasn't kidding when I said all the female characters were getting envelopment. Anyway, Hinata grew as a person in this chapter, so did Neji, and that will defiantly have changes in the future of this story.**

 **And I'm actually gonna rant about that for a little bit.**

 **The lost potential of all the girl characters in Naruto is _insane._**

 **Just think about it for a second. We could have had Sakura Haruno, the civilian born who was placed on a team with a literal weapon of mass destruction, the last member of** _either_ **of Konoha's founding clans still in the village, and the legendary copy nin. Instead of us getting her reacting to that, and how it compared to her background, we get a forced love triangle. We could have seen her bringing hope and medical care to remote villages, and connecting the world and spreading compassion. We could have seen her convince Pein that there was a better way through her medical work and lifting others up. We could have seen her overcoming the discrimination in the shinobi world, could have seen her rise with the help of her parents from a world against her, and blazing a path for all like her, but no.**

 **And then there's Hinata. We could have watched her deal with her trauma from the kidnapping, the death of her mother, and the fight with her sister. We could have watched her stifling under the Hyuga. We could have watched Hinata forge connections with Neji and the branch family, grow into herself with their support, and work to get the caged bird seal removed, because it was a family matter. She could have been an inspiration to overcome trauma and forge bonds despite the odds. We could have seen her reconciling with her little sister and leading the hyuga into a brighter future. But no.**

 **Tenten. Hey, isn't is weird how all the fanboys forget that she knows fuinjutsu? One of the most powerful techniques in Naruto? The reason the Uzumaki were destroyed, in fear of it? The thing that some of the most powerful shinobi in all of naruto knew, including the Fourth Hokage, The Second Hokage, Kushina, Jiraya, and to some extent, Tsunade and Kakashi? Can you imagine the** _potential_ **her character had? She could have done amazing things, could have been a great weapons mistress with no last name that rose out of literally nothing to stand next to some of the strongest shinobi to ever live, to be recognized with no last name, but instead, shes struggling to sell weapons out of a failing shop.**

 **Ino. A clan heiress. Coming from a position of privilege unlike Tenten and Sakura, and respected in her clan unlike Hinata, she could have been a great foil to them. We could have seen her learn to accept her position as future clan head, to become a leader, and her compassion for those less fortunate like Sakura. We could have seen her become a medical shinobi and specialist in therapy(Because Konoha has none) and revolutionize that field. We could have seen her, with Sai, uncover the injustices suffered in Konoha's past because of Root, and because of Konoha's toxic mentality in general, and handing out justice using her position of power. But no.**

 **Temari. The eldest daughter of one of the strongest Kazekage. Who had a bloodline. Temari herself, with years of experience over her little brothers could have easily become kazekage instead. She could have had the same bloodline limit as her father and brother. She could have forged alliances herself, but all of this is overlooked. She could have gone done in history as one of the strongest kage but no.**

 **Karin. Ohhhhh, where to start? How about the fact that she is the last full blooded Uzumaki on the planet? The fact that her past has heavy themes of sexual abuse? The fact that she was in Orochimaru's "care" longer than Sasuke? What did she see, what did she learn? I want to know. And does she know about her heritage? She had three, THREE! Not one, or two, but three! Incredibly powerful Uzumaki bloodlines. She is more powerful than both Kushina and Mito, who was the wife of the first hokage, had the same sensory powers, and who were both jinjuriki? We could have seen her learning about that, coming to terms with her heritage, but no. We could have seen her learn fuinjutsu, uncover the Uzu ruins, but no. We could have seen her react to Naruto, but no. We could have seen her become leader of the sound village, lead it into a new age, but no. All of this is brushed off in order to call her another crazy fangirl.**

 **Konan. S-rank missing nin. Badass. One of the leaders of an entire country, locked away from the rest of the world. The second in command of one of the most powerful (terrorist)organizations on the planet. Unique fighting style. Considered a god. We could have seen her lead Ame into a new age, embrace Naruto's Ideology, Form her own ideology, to learn from hers and others mistakes, but instead she dies in a 5 minute fight against Obito so Kishimoto can show off another Over powered ability. Like Kakazu. We could have seen her, a reformed terrorist, spreading peace. Instead, when Nagato was brought back, her brother figure, didn't even bother to ask how she was doing. Didn't care.**

 **Keep in mind that I am not trying to discredit these characters, or say they were nothing, because that's wrong. I think all of them were great. But that pales in comparison to what they could have been. They all could have had passionate, compelling, moving stories that drove the narrative, and inspired people. And that's not to say they don't do those things, but...**

 **Once you see that all of the above listen either became housewives, were killed, or are struggling in obscurity as 2d characters, its disheartening.**

 **Honestly, I don't know whats worse, the fact that there are so many overlooked girls on this list or that these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you think of Hinata's newfound resolve?**

 **Many thanks to reebajee!**


	35. Too Little, Too Late

Sakura panted harshly, more in worry than in actual out of breathness, due to her training with Lee, who was running a few paces ahead of her. Even farther ahead was Hinata, short hair rippling with the surprising speed of her run, despite her injuries.

Must be the clan training.

The rest of them were behind her, even Sasuke, although not by much. Her training with Lee had greatly increased her speed to the point where, when properly motivated, she could outstrip even Sasuke.

The fact that Ino was in mortal peril served as great motivation.

Sakura felt bile in her throat and swallowed it with sheer stubbornness, ignoring the fact that it felt terrible as it went back down.

Haku and the girl said they sense a huge malicious chakra signature right over where Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were. Haku almost fell backwards when he had realized Ino was in trouble. Naruto had to catch him. Right now, Haku was pulling ahead of her, masked face firmly staring ahead, and Sakura Increased her own pace in turn.

When Karin suggested they stay behind and away from danger, Sakura had snapped. No way was she leaving behind Ino. They had just gotten back together. Not again, never again.

"We made a pact! All Konoha teams help each other out when they need it, and they need it!" Naruto had exclaimed, before breaking into a run after Sakura. Everyone else soon followed.

Someone screamed. High and shrill, filled with such a bloodcurdling note of terror it could cut glass. Sakura would look back and still wonder who it was, even after it was all over with.

" _Look out_!"

Sakura threw herself to the side just as the massive tree branch she was on exploded into tiny wooden shards.

The tiny pieces peppered her arms like bee stings and she screamed. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the rest of them dodge just in time to avoid being crushed to death by a giant arm of...sand?

Sand was swirling all around them, and at the eye of the storm was the same red haired boy that Ino had said looked like trouble.

He was screaming, something about a mother. His fingers scratched at his face, but instead of drawing blood, sand fell down. His green eyes were wide open to the point where they looked like they were going to pop out of his skull. She could see a clear ring of white around the irises from her position of over 40 feet away.

He was insane. Crazier than a bag of cats as Haruhi would say. If a tinfoil hat had a smell, he would be it.

" _You idiots, get out of here_!" Someone screamed again.

It was the older sister. Hair like a desert bush and teal eyes glowing like fire. She was batting away sand with her giant fan, deflecting and dodging it while the other one used chakra strings to pull himself to safety.

The older genin-Temari, sliced an arm in half with her huge metal fan panting harshly as she shouted something to her brother.

"It's not the right time-" Temari was cut off as she dodged another arm.

Her eyes tracked the movement before stopping on two figures huddled over something. The one figure was significantly slimmer than the other, with a spiky ponytail, another heavier figure with his hair split down the middle with cloth. She looked down at the figure lying in the grass and her blood turned to ice.

She couldn't breath.

She was suddenly watching Haruhi, small, so small and sleeping after using up all her chakra.

She was on the bridge again, watching as Zabuza's sword cleaved towards Sasuke.

"Sakura!" Lee tackled her out of the way of another lashing sand tentacle. It would have knocked the wind out of her if the sight of Ino's prone lower body hadn't already.

She looked around in a daze. Gaara had stood up, attention on them now. Sand was lashing out in all directions. Neji and Hinata danced around the sand whips, disintegrating them with touches. Haku was firing off icicles to split them in half and shield the others. Sasuke's fireball muffled the worst of the attack and Naruto's shadow clones confused Garra enough that he went for them instead of the others.

Karin stood in the back looking unsure while TenTen threw explosives tags at sand that tried to sneak up on Haku, scattering it.

Garra screams again, and releases a burst of energy that sent Karin and Haku to their knees, and had even Sakura, who is not a sensor, gagging on the chakra. It felt like trying to breath in honey.

' _ **Snap out of it!'**_ Inner screams and then Sakura is moving. She grabs Haku and the pair ran towards Ino while the others kept him distracted. Naruto snarls, pupils turning into slits and a red energy emitting from him. Before Sakura can ponder what this means, Ino's upper body comes into view.

The screams of the battle behind her are tuned out, faint and muddled like she is under water. Ino is suddenly all she can see. Haku trembles in horror beside her, one hand reaching out, but she doesn't notice.

All she can see is what's left of Ino's face.

The bile she had previously swallowed came back up.

Ino's face, her pride and joy. The various creams and lotions and tips they used to trade, what they started trading again, all useless. The makeups, lipsticks, and eyeliner that made them feel big and powerful, all gone.

She wiped her mouth, only to see Haku had fallen to his knees next to her. She hauled him up and dragged him towards Ino. He stood up then, staggering towards her, hands already glowing green.

Sakura follows, eyes locked on to the place were Ino's face should have been.

The damage was extensive. Broken cheekbones, broken nose, exposed jawmusclesexposedteeth-

' _ **CALM DOWN SHE NEEDS US!'**_

Sakura crouched next to Haku and got to work.

The fight raged in the background, and Sakura looked up for a single second, gasping when long chakra things, chains erupted from Karins back. She screamed, and held down the rampaging Gaara, who was being engulfed by sand. His eyes lost their green, being replaced with a grey that Sakura knew didn't bode well for them.

She looked down again.

Haku didn't have the accuracy or the supplies to fix Ino's face, and neither did Sakura. Hell, just stemming the flow of blood was exhausting, even with her stellar chakra control. Haku was dealing with the worst of the injuries, but the damage was so severe and extensive, one wrong move could mean Ino lost her vision, or taste or smell.

They shouldn't be touching her at all, but if they didn't, she would die from blood loss, or infection.

This was all wrong, this wasn't supposed to happen! Why did they have to go through this!?

Screams erupted from the clearing as sand wrapped around Lee's torso. Her heart jumped into her throat, because she couldn't bear to see another friend get hurt, but before she could jump into action Hinata sliced the arm in half with her palm.

But Sakura could see them wearing down. They weren't moving as fast, and were starting to slip up. Gaara was slowly slipping back towards them.

Sakura needed to slow the tentacles down.

"Haku!"

He looked up, sweat dripping out from under the mask. Sakura ran through the hand signs.

"Water style, water wave Jutsu!" This part of the forest was extremely damp, providing all the water Sakura needed to send a giant wave towards Gaara on the ground while everyone else moved into the trees. It hit him full on, soaking his sand.

" **WE'LL KILL YOU!"**

His sand moved, noticeably slower, towards Sakura before Haku got the hint.

He put his hands to the dirt and released his chakra.

Like her wave before, it encompassed the clearing. It froze the watery sand in place. The ice crackled as it rapidly spread towards Gaara, who could do nothing as it engulfed him.

Silence.

Haku panted heavily, before running through hand signs again, biting his finger, and slamming it to the ground. If Sakura hadn't seen Kakashi-sensei do that, she would have thought he was insane.

Smoke billowed outwards, and suddenly a giant rabbit the size of her house was in the clearing, resting atop the frozen sand.

"Get on!" Haku barked.

Nobody needed to be told twice.

Sakura ran over and helped Shikamaru and Choji move Ino without jostling her too much and the giant rabbit bent down to let them on top of it.

They heard a noise and turned to see Temari scooping up the other brother.

"This wasn't supposed to happen." Her face was ashen pale, ponytails lose. Before they could ask her what that meant, a ear splitting cracking noise had Temari using a wind Jutsu to propel her and her brother away and had Haku screaming for the summon to jump. It did just that, and the sheer force of the wind had Sakura's throat in her stomach. As she turned to look back, she felt liquid trickle down her thigh.

The treetops shook as Gaara-no, the sand demon rose, roaring. Gaara was unconscious in the middle of its forehead as it chased after them.

They were screaming and yelling, Hinata was coughing up blood while Neji held her, Shikamaru and Choji were clinging to Ino, Sasuke's eyes were bleeding, almost all of Shino's bugs were dead, Kiba was cupping his face as if trying to block put a putrid smell, and Naruto was unconscious, having been hit in the stomach. Karin was clinging to the back, staring at Ino's face with a strange expression that Sakura didn't have the time to figure out.

Gaara's sand shredded the ice to the point where the shards made it looked like it was snowing in summer. The giant sand demon laughed maniacally and came after them.

Trees wider than her house snapped like toothpicks. The giant sand demon opened its mouth and roared, shaking the treetops that hadn't been felled by the sweeping tail. Sakura felt her ears pop and she had to brace herself and Ino's prone body as the rabbit summon gave another great leap, barely dodging the giant sweeping sand paw.

The creature roared, words so loud they were indecipherable. Neji spun in a circle, a move Sakura have never seen before, that blocked a sand whip lashing out at them. TenTen threw a spiked bomb that exploded in the sand demon's face, blinding it and putting distance between them. Sakura turned to see that Kiba and Hinata had secured Naruto, Ino, Haku, and Karin to the back of the rabbit with ninja wire. Shino, TenTen, Lee, and Kiba were hurtling projectiles at the demon as it recovered.

"We need to get to the tower! I need to count all our scrolls!" Shikamaru shouted, gesturing to Choji who started digging through pockets. Hearing the normally laidback Shikamaru yelling at the top of his lungs only further set her on edge.

' _ **That flash bomb wont hold forever! We need to take out Gaara, and soon!**_ ' Inner shouted.

Sakura shouted this to the others, and Kiba shouted something as the sand hurtled their kunai back at them. TenTen quickly intercepted by furiously unraveling a golden tipped scroll, extracting a metal whip she then used to slash the kunai out of the sky.

"Boost me!" TenTen shouted.

Sakura jumped behind her with Lee in a smooth cohesive moment. Tenten jumped into the air, and just as she started coming back down, Sakura and Lee cupped their hands, catching Tenten's feet then hurtling her upwards with all their might.

TenTen unfurled a giant scroll she had kept on her back, and, in a move that blotted out the sun, a storm of weapons of all shapes and sizes exploded from her scroll. They hurtled through the air, like a swarm of angry hornets, directly at Gaara's prone form.

"Yeah!" Sakura cheered, forgetting her fear for a moment as she watched the amazing display put on by Tenten. Only for realty to come crashing down as the weapons thudded harmlessly into the sand demon's raised arm.

" _YOU FOOLS THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME, SHUKAKU, THE ONE-TAILED-AGH!"_

Mouth agape in awe, Sakura watched as the previously invisible chakra threads became visible at the edges of TenTen's fingertips like a spider web. With a shout and a jerk of her arms, the came flying from all angles towards Gaara's prone form, so fast and abrupt that the sand demon couldn't block or see them.

They harpooned it's arms and face, and the creatures angry roar had them clutching their ears in pain.

Sakura looked up just in time to see one of the fuma-shuriken slam into Gaara's chest.

"..."

The world seemed to stop. The abrupt silence was like a gaping hole, where no birds chirped or trees rustled, the giant rabbit summon had stopped bounding, now just watching to see what happened next. Even their breathing had stopped.

It started to collapse. Gaara's shocked face falling to the earth was all she could see as the behemoth crumbled into dust.

A glint out of the corner of her eye led her to seeing Temari swooping in on her metal fan, scooping up Gaara's prone body and gliding out of sight.

TenTen landed on her feet a bit behind Kiba, starling him. Karin, Ino, Naruto, and Haku were still unconscious.

"Well?! Take us to the tower, as quickly as possible, please!" Sakura asked.

The Rabbit's nose twitched, and with a jerk of its body, they were flying over treetops.

* * *

"Kakashi." Haruhi said, voice stiff with worry. She was taking careful measured breathes through her nose. Her hands itched, like they were too tight on her, like a pair of gloves. She felt like shedding her skin like a snake and crawl into a hole somewhere.

Kakashi gently rested a fingertip onto her back, and rubbed it into a soothing circle. Haruhi could tell he was worried too.

Once the cameras went out from a whirlwind of sand, how could they not be?

This was wrong. Gaara wasn't supposed to go off his rocker until way past the third stage of the exams.

Kakashi didn't respond from their position in the screen room, still staring at the blacked out tv's. Medics ran past them, going to meet the kids at the tower.

"Kakashi, we should go."

Kakashi paused, then nodding slightly. Instead of putting her on his shoulder like she expected him too, he surprised her by tucking her carefully into the vest pocket.

His hand hovered for a second, before going back to his side and he began walking. She noticed the minute tremble in it.

She wanted to be on his shoulder. She desperately wanted to see if the kids were alright, but she knew Kakashi needed the security of her safe in the pocket.

And so did she.

* * *

 **What will happen next?**

 **Many thanks to reebajee**


	36. Scars To Your Beautiful

Haruhi thanked whatever God that was listening that the genin had enough scrolls to get through.

They had tumbled into the tower, scrolls in hand and screaming for medical help. Ino's face was still bleeding, and there was a red stain in between her crotch.

Some of the female staff along with Sakura and Hinata had to carefully change her. Haruhi had to look away. Kakashi was busy in some super-secret meeting, probably about Gaara. Now that Gaara has proven that he is extremely unstable and can't control his Biju, They will want to go over the security risks that he poses.

For a moment, Haruhi wondered what this meant for the future of Naruto. Sand and Sounds ace in the hole was revealed way before the original invasion, alerting Konoha right away that something was up. It is extremely risky for sand to send someone like Gaara to the exams when he is so unstable, and Konoha and Suna both knew it. That meant Gaara was sent here on purpose, for a reason, and now Konoha knew that too.

It wouldn't be long before Konoha figured out the rest of Orochimaru's plan, and then what? Would Orochimaru delay the invasion? Would he hasten it? Would he abandon it all together? Would the Exams be canceled?

There were just to many unknowns. This world had changed too much for Haruhi's future information to be reliable anymore. That meant her backup plans would be pretty much useless. If she thought this world was dangerous before, with its state-sanctioned genocide, child soldiers, and lack of childcare, it just got even worse.

Everyone was hurting.

The others were all suffering various sand burns on their arms, lacerations and chakra exhaustion.

Physically, Ino was the worst.

But mentally and emotionally? All the kids were doing terrible.

She had talked to some of the medics she knew because of Sakura, and from what she learned, there was no mental health care besides what the Yamankan provided, which wasn't much, considering that their clan techniques were centered on tearing the mind down and extracting information more than anything. It make disturbing sense.

Like Zabuza had said, ninja were tools. Or at the very least, considered to be tools. And tools might need physical maintenance, but tools don't have emotions or thoughts and feelings, so what was the need for therapy? Talk circles? Mental health care? Tools, after all, didn't have minds or hearts.

Konoha wasn't exempt from that ideology either.

In fact, being the very first ninja village, it was the definition of that. She heard other kids on missions being criticised for not wanting to be ninja. Naruto and Sasuke just couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to be one. Retired ninja that didn't have any severe physical wounds like Sakura's dad, Kizashi, were criticized-despite their mental health problems. Hell, even Kakashi had PTSD, but he refused to retire and take a break, because it was drilled into him since he was a child that he had to serve his village. His own mental health meant nothing to him in comparison to that.

Hell, shinobi who were forced to retire with missing limbs, had huge trouble adjusting to civilian life, because they never learned practical skills for everyday living. They wore easily washable clothes-uniforms, so they never learned sewing, shopping, or how to clean clothes. They ate rations bars, or they ate out, so cooking wasn't picked up either. So a crippled, retired nin was SOL. They had no choice but to stay in the business forever.

Konoha's whole huge obsession with it's military and its will of fire reminded her of America's own rampant nationalism, and its own american dream.

Just thinking of Konoha's military structure made her head spin. It was like 1984. She remembered in a short clip of the original anime, she saw a huge secret control room with cameras trained on every corner of the village. It was insane.

That kind of technology could be making a lot of lives better, but instead it was being withheld from the public due to ninja paranoia of controlling everything.

This village was founded by Hashirama and Madara with the best intentions to protect kids, but looking down at the Konoha eleven, hurt and traumatized, she couldn't help but feel they failed.

Because really, they had.

Haruhi sighed, leaning over from her place sitting on one of the support beams. She looked down at the kids sleeping off their injuries on sterile white cots below her. Sakura was curled up on her side, Hinata was clutching her bruised stomach, and Naruto was twitching in his sleep, in the throes of another night terror.

She kicked a pebble the size of her head down, and it bounced off Naruto's nose. He woke up sharply, breaking the nightmare, before turning back on his side and going back to sleep.

Sasuke still hadn't said anything, staring blankly at the wall, hands clasped tightly. As she looked closer, she noticed his leg muscles tense and untense in a rhythmic motion. He stood up stiffly and left the room.

Neji, Shino, and Kiba were being treated for the lesions Gaara's sand left on them. Karin was still unconscious, Lee was also asleep, and TenTen went to get food for the rest of them.

Haruhi stood up to her full height of 5 inches, then flinched as a weird spaz went through her. Must have been from sitting for so long.

She carefully walked down the side of the beam, brow furrowed in concentration as she focused chakra to the bottoms of her feet. It was never an easy thing for her to do, but somehow, it was harder now.

She checked in with all of them before running after Sasuke.

She went largely unnoticed, her white blouse and cream pants blending in well with the tile floors and beige walls of the tower. She weaved in and out from between the shoes of walking chunin and medics, following the blue of Sasuke's shirt that she could see sharply turning corners.

She breathed heavily as she jogged, thighs chafing a bit as she chased Sasuke. She turned the corner and ran right into his socked heel, falling onto her butt.

She grumbled, annoyed, before freezing when she realized why Sasuke stopped.

Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara stood in the middle of the hallway, evidently having just entered the building. Every single one of them, even Gaara-especially Gaara-looked terrible. Their clothes were torn, and dried blood was encrusted onto Gaara's skin where Tenten had landed hits. But the thing that stuck out the most from him was the look on his face. It was a confused look, the look of someone reavulating their entire life.

Haruhi was all too familiar with that look.

Haruhi hated them. She knew they were kids, used as weapons in a world too cruel to care that what they were doing was wrong, but as she remembered them covering up Ino's mangled face, and the other's wounds as well, she couldn't find it within herself to squash those juvenial emotions.

She scowled, and used the ledges in the wall to jump onto Sasuke's shoulder, still scowling. She realized that Sasuke's teeth were bared, partly in fear, and partly in anger.

"We don't want any trouble. Only to go to our rooms." It was Temari, who sounded exhausted to the point where she could feel nothing else, not even fear.

Sasuke stiffened, before stepping aside.

They shuffled past, Temari leading her little brothers to their room. But before they turned the corner, Gaara abruptly stopped, leading Sasuke to grab his Kunai and for Temari and Kankuro to reach for their puppets and battle fan.

"Why did I lose?" Gaara asked, and he sounded so honestly confused that Haruhi's brow unfurrowed just the slightest bit.

The hallway was silent until Sasuke spoke up.

"You lost because you fight just for the thrill of it. You have nothing motivating you to fight except for your own selfish desires. We had friends and family to protect. You better believe we weren't going to lose."

Gaara clenched his fists. His teeth grinded together in an audible sound that filled the hallway.

"Long ago I renounced the idea of love, when the man who I thought loved me tried to kill me. When my father turned me into a weapon, and I killed my mother before I was born. Love has never done _anything_ for me. Love brought nothing but pain and sorrow."

"And yet it was the care between us that allowed us to beat you." Sasuke pointed out. His voice was still hard, but had softened. He was looking at Gaara in a new light.

Gaar said nothing, but he didn't move either. He was still chewing on something. Sasuke sighed deeply, tilting his head so that he was looking up at the ceiling.

"I know what it is like to hate, Gaara. For someone you...loved, trusted, to turn on you. To hurt you."

Gaara was now looking at Sasuke with a desperate sort of hope, like he believed Sasuke could tell him everything he needed to hear. Haruhi leaned against his neck, patting his cheek to let Sasuke know she was here.

"Have you heard of the Uchiha massacre?"

Gaara nodded slowly.

Sasuke took in a deep breath, before continuing to speak.

"My brother was the one I looked up to. Whenever I had a question, he had an answer. Whenever I needed help, he was there to help me. Whenever I scraped my knee, he had a band-aid. To me, he was above everyone, even the Hokage."

Gaara was still watching, absorbing everything.

"The Uchiha weren't very popular in Konoha, and whenever I went to the academy, I was either treated as an outcast, or put on a pedestal. And being one of the youngest Uchiha, my clan didn't have time for me. It really felt like me and him against the world." Sasuke whispered.

" _Yes."_ Gaara whispered.

"And then he turned. He stabbed me in the back, and everyone else too. I...Don't know why he did it, but it _hurt._ Suddenly I had no one, and I convinced myself that it was better this way. I pushed everyone away, family friends who weren't Uchiha, medics, and friends from school who just wanted to help."

Haruhi was holding her breath.

"I did this because I was-"

Sasuke cut himself off, obviously struggling.

"...I did that because I was afraid. I had loved, and it had gotten me hurt. The worst pain I had _ever_ felt before...or since."

Gaara nodded again, at first slowly, before picking up speed.

"You understand." He whispered. " If you understand how it hurts, they why do you still love?"

Sasuke flinched at the L-word, but quickly composed himself.

"I don't have an answer for you, Gaara, it is different for everyone." Sasuke breathed out, thinking hard. "But I realized that I was only hurting myself by pushing others away. People can hurt each other Gaara, but they can _help_ too. I'm stronger now than I would ever have been on my own. They saved me, and I saved them."

Haruhi found herself nodding as well, remembering how Sakura took that hit for Sasuke on the bridge, and how Sasuke helped Sakura onto the rabbit summon.

"But most of all, I wasn't going to let that, _that fucker,_ ruin me! He told me to hate, so now I'll do the opposite. I won't let him control me. I won't let him make my life even more miserable by depriving myself. He gave up the _right_ to tell me what to do when he left." Sasuke barked, panting harshly.

Gaara stood in the hallway silently, eyes aimed at Sasuke and her, but seeing something else in the distance. His siblings were in the background, standing nervously, eyes darting around them.

"Your siblings saved you in the forest, Gaara, when the sand demon was defeated. You fell, and could have died. But they caught you, despite their fear. Think about that."

And with that conversation stopping line, Sasuke turned and left, rounding the corner out of sight from the sand siblings.

Haruhi patted Sasuke's cheek.

"I'm proud of you. I couldn't have said it better myself."

Sasuke said nothing, not even a grunt. Haruhi let it slide. Sasuke just had a very emotional day, after all. And also, used up his weekly word quota.

They kept walking before Haruhi stood up, and jumped into one of the many cracks in the wall.

"Wait here."

Before Sasuke could stop her, Haruhi slid into the inner workings of the building. Past spider webs, rat traps, wires, and concrete, she followed the light from various other cracks until she had caught up with the sand siblings, standing right above them.

"Watch out." She spoke loudly and gruffly, changing her voice.

They jumped, and whipped their heads around.

"Who said that?" Temari spat, hackles raised.

"The Kazekage is not the Kazekage. He's an imposter."

Haruhi turned and ran back towards Sasuke, hearing Temari gasp and break into a run. She cursed as her foot kicked a spiders egg sack like a soccer ball, not sticking around long enough to see if the mama spider was there too.

And yes, what she just did was impulsive, but fuck Orochimaru. And fuck canon too, while she was at it.

She reached the crack and jump back out into Sasuke's cupped hands.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." She said.

That was enough for Sasuke, who put her back onto his shoulder and kept walking. They kept walking until Haruhi realized they were entering the intensive care unit of the tower.

 _Ino._

They stopped in front of the door, both of them suppressing their chakra. From inside, they heard the muffled sound of sobbing.

They exchanged a glance, before Sasuke cracked open the door.

At first, they couldn't see much, blinking the light from their eyes, but in the reflection of the window, they could see Ino, laying in a white hospital bed, almost as pale as the sheets. Her skin was almost completely covered in bandages, only a small part of her arm and a quarter of her face, including her left eye, was spared. Her head was shaved bald.

Haruhi cupped her mouth in horror. Sasuke had frozen beside her.

With her one good hand she was trying to unwrap her face, single blue eye staring at the mirror in her lap propped up by pillows. They watched, transfixed in horror as more bandages loosened and fell onto the pillow and to the floor. Ino's breath quickened with every wrap around as more bloodied bandaged exposed themselves.

A pale hand gently reached out and stopped her from unwrapping the last layer.

Ino shook as she tried to contain herself. She tugged fruitlessly against Haku's gentle hold, eye watering over as it roved over the bandages.

"Ino, you need to heal." Haku said carefully, gently, sorrowfully. From this angle, Haruhi could tell her mask was still on, hiding a badly burnt face and choppy frayed hair.

"Ah neid to _see_." Ino corrected him, desperation leaking into her slightly muffled voice.

Haku moved to remove the mirror from her lap and Ino cried out in alarm, her hand wrapping around her wrist. Haku remained still, taking in the sight of Ino's shaking hand as it slid down her arm to wrap around her hand.

Ino gasped as Haku ran her thumb over the back of Ino's hand.

"Es it b-bad?" Ino asked.

Haku's thumb stilled, which prompted Ino to take a shaky, determined breath.

" _Please, Haku._ Ah need to know."

"..."

"I-I, need tah know."

Haku slowly raised her hands, and gently unwrapped the last of the bandages.

For a few moments, nothing happened.

There was no reaction, from anybody, no sound, no one making a move. They held their breaths.

They watched as Ino traced what remained of her face in the mirror. The missing eye, the exposed bone in her cheek, the destroyed nose and ear cartilage. Ino seemed to be hypnotized, as if in a spell or a nightmare, unable to look, but unable to look away. She focused on the exposed facial muscles under her missing eye, pausing her finger over them. Her face was raw meat in a package, waiting to be sold at the supermarket.

It was clear, the moment when the spell broke, because she started hyperventilating. It stretched the exposed muscles in her face, which only make Ino worse. Haku grabbed the mirror and threw it away, and held Ino as she collapsed into her arms.

" _Oh my gawhd, oh my gawhd, oh my gawhd-"_ Ino wheezed out, the air stolen from her along with her beautiful face.

She repeated those three words over and over again, until they didn't even sound like anything any more. Her syllables reached hellish levels, sounding demented and twisted like silverware in a tornado.

She could only repeat those words like a broken record, sounding garbled and just _wrong,_ because of her damaged jaw. It was like a child just learning to speak, and pronouncing things wrong because they didn't know better.

But Ino, Ino knew better, and she was breaking down.

" _Oh my gawhd, oh my gawhd, oh my gawhd-"_

Haruhi noted that the missing eye shed no tears.

They watched as Ino continue to break down, garbled sobs ringing throughout the room. They couldn't move, frozen as if Haku used an ice jutsu on them.

" _Ahm a monster!"_ She wailed.

Haku said nothing, only holding her tighter.

Ino broke out of her hold, and used her good hand to cup her damaged face. Except that there was so much to cover that her healthy hand only contrased the injuries.

"Dou dink ahm hideous now!" She choked.

Haku, seemingly unable to speak, shook her head in denial, ferociously. Haruhi had no doubt, that if Haku's head was uncovered, her hair would had been lashing back and forth.

"No." Haku finally spit out, sounding horrified of the idea.

"Yesh!"

"No, I-I could _never_ be disgusted by you."

Ino seemed to be having trouble accepting that, her one good eye scrunching up in disbelief, tears leaking over the side.

"You don' get it, why woul' you nat?" Ino asked, voice a low whisper.

Haku's shoulders shook as she leaned backwards, resting her weight against Ino's thighs from where they were resting on the bed. She slowly reached up and removed the mask Kakashi had given her, the rustling of fabris the only noise to be heard.

She felt Sasuke inhale sharply.

Haku's charred face was revealed to Ino. Burn scars stretched across her cheek, chin, nose, and forehead, creating a shiny and bumpy texture. Her ear was burned to a twisted stub, and her nose was shriveled from the fire. Haku tenderly took Ino's hand into her own, brushing the fingertips across her face in the same motions that Ino had done before with her own face in the mirror.

"Do I disgust you?" Haku spoke softly.

Ino's fingertips traced every scar, every pockmark, every waxy burnt area with a reverence that left Haruhi breathless. Her thumbed rested on Haku's twisted ear.

Slowly, Ino shook her head no, lips trembling.

Haku let out a wavering breath at Ino's reassurance, gripping Ino's hands in hers with a desperation of someone trying to stay afloat. The ice-user leaned forward, one arm wrapping around Ino's head so that their foreheads were touching. Her other hand brought Ino's hand to her chest.

" _Trust me Ino,"_ Haku said, voice thick with emotion, " _You're beautiful."_


	37. Little Talks

Sasuke scooped her up and quietly padded away, closing the hospital door silently behind them. Haruhi felt dirty, like she witnessed something she shouldn't have. Because she did.

She twirled her hair, brow furrowed.

Just what kind of a world was this, where children like Ino and Haku could be mutilated and crippled, children like Sasuke and Itachi could be used and manipulated, and kids like Gaara and Naruto, and Fuu, could be taken and have a monster forced into their bodies against their will. It smashed the idea of basic consent and bodily anatomy.

Now Haruhi wasn't Naive. Being born from an african-american mother and a white father, and liking girls as well as boys clued her in on the shit-show that was america _very_ early on. It's history of genocide, oppression, racism, sexism, denial, homophobia, and xenophobia were laid bare to her.

So make no mistake, Haruhi knew the world she came from wasn't a sparkling jewel. Humans were human, no matter what dimension they were in. Shit went down in america too, and the rest of the real world. Haruhi wouldn't pretend like it didn't.

But in the real world, ideals like democracy, therapy, mental health, education past 12 years, and child soldiers being bad existed.

The was the biggest difference Haruhi could see between the real world and the ninja one. While the real world had trouble acting upon those ideals she mentioned, they were at the very least _aware_ they existed, and should be worked for.

Meanwhile the ninja society could give fuck-all about things like mental health. Kakashi himself, a child in ANBU with suicidal thoughts and PTSD, was a prime example. Kakashi was as much as a victim of the ninja way as the rest of the Konoha eleven. Speaking of which, child soldiers were tolerated-hell, _encouraged,_ in this world and no one seemed to see a problem with that except Haruhi!

It was frustrating, and made her want to rip her hair out!

She felt like she was the only sane person in a world where teaching 6 year olds how to be professional hired killers for blood money was acceptable!

Naruto, Sasuke, hell, even Sakura knew so little about the world and how it was supposed to work! Things like _basic economics_ and things like _other forms of government besides a dictatorship_ were foreign to them. Well, on average, the three of them went to the academy from seven to twelve. That's five years, tops. No way in hell you can fit a decent education in that time frame. The average Jounin knew less about how the world worked than the average civilian, and that was sad. Over months of interacting with this world, it was something she could say for sure.

Because while Konoha needed smart ninja, like Kakashi. Independent thinkers, skilled workers, like Kakashi, they didn't want anyone questioning the power and authority of Konoha. Properly educated ninja would get in the way of that, so they cut that education short. Konoha made many mistakes, and instead of accepting criticism gracefully, Konoha would rather cover it up.

After all, just where did you think the Uchiha went?

At that thought, she looked over at Sasuke. Poor kid. He didn't deserve any of this, he was born into it, but unlike Haruhi, he couldn't just go into another dimension to escape.

Well, actually, neither could she at the moment, but she would be able to soon enough.

For some reason, that thought didn't make her happy like it once did.

She wondered why. Probably because of the emotional attachments she formed. All the kids had grown on her. And Kakashi. At first, she would have thought it impossible, due to how much she didn't like and pre-judged them. But she was wrong about them.

Just like so many other things, it seemed.

And then there was something else…

The fact that Haruhi knew exactly what was going on.

No, not in the sense where she had every plot point and character memorized by heart, but where Haruhi knew exactly what kind of a shit show the ninja were running here. She wasn't blind to konoha's propaganda, the toxic ninja ideology of enduring when the solution to the problems were within reach. She saw straight through Danzo's and the rest of the Konoha higher ups bullshit.

She saw straight through the bullshit cover story for the Uchiha genocide. They said is was necessary _for the village,_ that there would be war, and that the Uchiha would weaken _the village_ if their coup was successful. But isn't getting rid of Konoha's most powerful clan, the villages protectors, also weakening the village?

Like…?!

It was clear that the logic behind the massacre was extremely fucked up, but that was assuming there was any coherent thought to begin with.

The Uchiha were discriminated against, oppressed, denied certain missions so they lost money, blamed for the economic slump that followed the third war, due to them being former front-liners, using them as scapegoats.

As an mixed-race woman, Haruhi got it. As a bisexual, she understood what it was like to be discriminated against. She emphasized with the Uchiha so hard it was painful.

Most would assume, with Haruhi being a woman, that she would like, or understand Sakura the most out of the rest of team seven. And that was true, to a degree. Being a civilian born in a world that prized ninja's, Haruhi related to her. Haruhi knew what it felt like to be insecure, and 'diet' to feel better.

But she related to Sasuke the most. For all the reason listed above, and more.

She looked over at said boy. He had placed her and himself on one of the window sills in the tower overlooking the forest of death. From this angle sitting on the protruding stone, she could see countless trees, the head of a particularly large bear, and a genin team leaping in the branches towards the tower. The sky sparkled with stars, in a way they never did back home due to light pollution.

She watched as Sasuke's eyes traced the bear.

"Haruhi-sensei?"

She snapped to attention. Sasuke was still watching the bear, a distant look in his eyes, like he was somewhere else.

"Yes?"

"What's gonna happen now?"

Her eyes widened, and suddenly, it was hard to breath. It was hard to swallow, saliva hot in her mouth. Her heart beat erratically, and her palms trembled as she wiped them against her shirt. Those three words were enough to blow her over. Everything went darker as her vision tunneled to the three genin out in the forest fighting for their lives against an unseen assailant.

She blinked, stunned as she realized what was going on.

The last time she had a panic attack was years ago, in high school. But she supposed it was fitting, given the circumstances.

She swallowed, and then swallowed again, took deep breaths through her nose, and brought her knees up to her chest. She rocked back and forth minutely. Sasuke was giving her a worried look now, but as Haruhi caught sight of the bags under his eyes, she doubled her effort to calm down.

It wasn't easy.

After exhaling shakily, she spoke.

"I'm n-not sure."

Sasuke bit his lip.

"But you know what I am sure about?"

Sasuke shook his head no, curiosity replacing the fear.

"I know for a fact that team seven will do everything they can to help you. They are your friends, teammates, and they care for you. They can and have helped you. Whatever happens, you'll go through it together."

Haruhi felt the ball in her chest unclench as she continued to speak. Everything would work out okay.

"What about you?"

She felt like throwing up again.

What about her? Would she go back at the first chance possible? A month, hell, a week ago, the answer would have been a resounding yes. But now?

She frowned.

She was aware of the bullshit of the world. She could teach others to actually look underneath the underneath, not this Konoha bullshit where it doesn't apply to them. And the fact that just as she became attached to team seven, they now were attached to her. Haruhi was an unknown variable, and removing herself may not go as smoothly as she likes.

It could make everything worse in fact. And while she could say that the rest of the ninja world wasn't her problem, she was definitely responsible for what her actions had already caused in this world, and what her removal could do too.

But while she would love to help fix Konoha's problems, and the hypocrisy of the ninja world, she had her own world.

It sounded callous, and it was. Wasn't it her moral obligation to try to correct something when it was clearly wrong? Was she assuming too much of herself?

If she stood by and did nothing, would nothing change?

No, that was a stupid thought. Too much had already changed. No use in holding herself back.

Haruhi could change the world for the better, and so she must.

" _I can, so I must._ " She whispered under her breath.

One tiny woman by herself may not have been able to achieve much, but she was one of the Sensei's of team seven! It was her job to teach them about the world, and how to correct it.

Her mind was made up. She would stay until she felt team seven knew how to move about the world the right way, and then she'd leave.

"Maa, I guess I'll be there too." She smiled.

Sasuke nodded back. He started to cry. Alarmed, Haruhi stood up, hair standing in end. She had never seen him cry before.

"I did that." He whispered miserably.

"You did what, Sasuke?"

"H-Haku. Her face."

Oh.

The scar tissue on Haku's face had long since healed over, but it would leave nasty permanent marks for the rest of her life. And it looked like Haku came out to Sasuke sometime in the forest too.

" _I thought she, I-I didn't know-_ " He stuttered, composure shattering like glass.

"I know, we know." She crooned, desperately trying to calm him down. She ran over and hugged his knee.

He hand reached up to wipe away his tears.

"Haruhi-sensei, I _don't want too._ "

"Okay, Sasuke, you don't have to."

"But I do! I can't quit being a ninja! I don't want to, I-I don't want to fight other people, and tell them their teammates are dead. I don't want to hurt more people like Haku."

He took a shaky breath.

"I used to think of the world in black and white. Good and bad. But people like Haku, Karin, Sakura, and Gaara made me realize nothing is inherently evil, or good. It's complicated."

"It is." Haruhi agreed, letting Sasuke vent.

"But as long as I am a ninja, I will continue to have to fight against people who may have been my friends, if the circumstances were different. I wanted to be a police officer, a detective, when I was younger so I could protect. So I could prevent violent crimes against innocents. But I've seen more violence against what could be considered innocents by being a ninja since the Massacre!"

Haruhi had nothing to say to that.

"The ninja world is drenched in blood. Unnecessary violence. I've had enough of that with the massacre. But I've found myself, on village orders, hurting people like Haku. I became a ninja to kill _that man,_ so he could never hurt anyone again. But in order to become a ninja, you need to attack and potentially kill other genin. I saw two kids my age dead in the forest. Karin was the only survivor. So in order to become a ninja, unnecessary violence is not only tolerated, its _accepted, encouraged!_ "

Haruhi nodded, proud of Sasuke's reasoning.

"That's wrong! I would need to do the very things I wanted to avoid in order to achieve my goals. I would need to commit unnecessary violence to avoid unnecessary violence."

"That is pretty messed up. Is there no other way you could achieve your goals without violating your ideals?" Haruhi said.

Sasuke looked pensive.

"I will do things my own way. I won't listen to that man. Unlike him, I don't need to kill others in order to prove myself. Or gain strength."

"A lot of people would call you naive." Haruhi cautioned.

"And I would call them jaded." he fired back.

"Touche. It takes a critical thinker to realize what you just realize. Shinobi often have a simplistic world view. Village=good, anything against the village=bad." She smirked, proud of him.

This was why she related to Sasuke the most. He thought like her. He saw how the world worked. Out of all of team seven, she knew he understood how to the world worked. She couldn't believe she ever thought so badly of him.

"But Sasuke, if someone heard you say that, they could report you to the higher ups, and you could get in trouble. Be careful."

Sasuke nodded.

"..."

"...You know how I couldn't understand why those civilian kids didn't want to be ninja? I think I get it now."

The turned to look over the forest, deep in thought.

Haruhi was watching vultures circling around presumidly dead genin when the screaming started.

"What now!?" She snapped.

A giant snake, scales glinting in the moonlight as it winded around the tower and _squeezed,_ was her answer.

"Orochimaru! Sasuke, we need to get to Kakashi! RIGHT NOW!"

Startled at her raised voice, Sasuke scooped her up again and began to run. He slipped a little in his socked feet, and any other time, Haruhi would have thought that to be cute, but right now, she was too sick with worry to feel anything else.

Oh god, this was her fault. Her impulsiveness strikes again! Could it be, by telling The sound siblings about the Kazekage being an imposter, that Orochimaru was exposed way sooner than before? Haruhi didn't think that they go to the Kages right away!

The guilt threatened to consume her.

Sasuke her her close to her chest as he rounded corners with dizzying speeds, sliding into one of the walls before running again. The booms and shouts continued around them.

She didn't know he was in the building!

Sasuke took another corner, and before he could stop, a gloved hand reached out and punched him in the head.

Haruhi screamed in horror.

Sasuke crashed into the sidewall, clearly unconscious. His hands flopped limply by his side. She went flying, the wind knocked out of her when the same man caught her, and _squeezed._

"Well, looks like our cover is blown." The man mused. He sounded amused, but Haruhi could hear the frustration simmering underneath.

Haruhi couldn't say anything, too busy struggling for air.

"So a doll, huh?" He said, bringing her up to steel grey eyes. She trembled.

The man walked over and threw Sasuke over his shoulder. He ran to the nearest window and jumped out.

Kabuto. It was him this entire time.

One last squeeze, and Haruhi lost consciousness.

* * *

 **So, it finally happened.**

 **Many of you have already guessed that it was Kabuto who was the kidnapper, but to those of you who didn't, surprise!**

 **And yeah, Haruhi and Sasuke are busy deconstruction the lies that is the will of fire, bonding over that fact that everything is bullshit and that they are some of the only ones who realize how far it goes.**

 **And Haruhi had a panic attack, but what else did you expect?**

 **Haruhi is also having a moral dilemma, of whether she should stay or go. She's extremely conflicted, not just because of her emotional connections, but also because of her moral code. Shes questioning the ethics of leaving when she knows somethings wrong and can do something about it, but also the ethics of herself keeping so much information close to her chest in order to correct those wrongs.**

 **Isn't she just like them if she also withholds the truth?**

 **And is it ethical to put herself through such ordeals? Such trauma?**

 **Struggles aren't just physical, people.**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you think Haruhi should do?**


	38. A Hole Too Deep

Sakura is four years old. Her father in is the other room. He is trembling at something unseen, taking raspy breaths as he fruitlessly tries to calm himself. Sakura stays in the kitchen and eats her cereal, careful not to crunch it too loudly.

Her father eventually recovers enough to stop shaking and go upstairs to rest.

Her mother came in the kitchen, looking quite pale too. Sakura was in the middle of eating cereal, but instead of chewing it, she let it disintegrate in her mouth and swallow it so it wouldn't startle her mother.

Later, she would ask her mom about it. Her father used to be a ninja, a genin. One of his teammates died, and it made her father feel bad, even now. The other teammate went to get training from a strong ninja, because she was the most promising. Her father retired because it hurt him so badly. The other ninja were mad at him for that. They thought he should serve despite how he felt, and they ignored him and even spat curses at him.

It was that day Sakura realized there was more to being a ninja than cool jutsus and being a hero.

* * *

"How can I help?" Sakura whispered to her mother.

Mebuki looks at her husband, who is snoring on the couch, cat resting on his chest and rising up and down.

"Hugs and kisses, and telling someone you care for them helps." Mebuki whispers.

Sakura nods, taking that information and tucking it close to her heart.

* * *

Sakura is five. She just saw a woman flip a man who touched her butt onto his head. With one hand. The woman is a ninja. She is wearing a trenchcoat and fishnet leggings tucked into steel-toed boots.

"I want to be you!"

The purple haired woman looks at her for a long time.

"I'm sure you will be, Haruno."

She walks away.

Sakura is happy for a long time afterwards, before she realized she never gave the woman her name.

* * *

Sakura is seven. She tells her parents she wants to be a ninja.

They ask her if she is sure.

Sakura thinks about the purpled haired woman, who demanded respect, Ino, who gave her the red ribbon in the park, and Sasuke who wanted to be a ninja and become stronger too.

She nods.

Her father gently pulls her to the side.

"Being a ninja is hard. It's tough. If you really want to be one, your mother and I will support you. But I want you to know that you have a choice. You can choose not to be a ninja and there is nothing wrong with that, we will still love you. Now, do you really want to?"

Sakura nods again.

They sign her up.

Later, she asks what her father meant by choice. He smiles sadly at her.

"My parents were immigrants. In order to live here, immigrant couples need to sign up their firstborns for the military. No exceptions. I didn't have a choice when I became a genin."

His eyes looked far away, sad and cloudy, and Sakura thought that maybe he was seeing something too much for her to understand just yet.

* * *

Sakura and her father are terrified out of their minds. They haven't seen Mebuki since this morning when she left for work. She is hours late coming home. They visit the place where she was last, and they see blood on a protruding piece of scrap metal. Ever since the Police were all killed, Konoha is a scary place, especially at night. A civilian woman is not safe.

They ask around, and they hear about a woman with a back injury heading to the hospital.

They find Mebuki sitting in one of the chairs. She's crying. Her hand is trembling so hard, that when she tries to fill out paperwork she smudges the ink and has to start over.

When she sees them, she shouts in relief, and cries harder.

Kizashi hugs his wife, and Sakura runs to get some water for her mother to drink. When she comes back, her father's normally cheerful disposition is replaced with one of anger.

He's asking the medics why his wife has been sitting in a pool of her own blood for hours on end.

They reply that it is because she is a civilian, and needs to fill out certain paperwork. And that she is a non-priority.

His shouts fill the halls, and Sakura feels her heart roar in rage along with his. They eventually treat Mebuki, but only after Kizashi can prove that he used to be a ninja and that Sakura is a ninja-to-be.

Sakura learns something that day.

* * *

She will be a ninja, because people respect ninja.

* * *

Sakura is eight, and they are calling her names. It doesn't bother her much, she was used to it long before Ino jumped to her defense. Kids are mean. Calling her forehead, and pinkie doesn't mean anything to her.

It's when they start calling her _the civilian_ that gets to her.

Sakura isn't dumb. She knows that she is one of the only kids in the entire academy that comes from both civilian parents. Everyone else is either from a clan-big or minor- or a second or third generation kids born from a parents who made it chunin or higher.

When they call her civilian, they are saying she is weak. That she is lesser, and shouldn't be here.

She tells Ino this.

Ino is a clan heir who doesn't get it. She tells Sakura she is overreacting. She says Sasuke doesn't like girls like Sakura who create a big fuss over nothing.

* * *

They aren't friends anymore.

* * *

Sakura has something to prove now. When the academy teacher smiles at her patronizingly when she lags being in the sprints, she grits her teeth and runs harder, breaths whistling harshly between her teeth.

When Mizuki-sensei says the ninja world is no place for the meek of heart and suggests she should look for other career options, she studies so hard she gets the top scores and beats Sasuke Uchiha in the writing portion.

She doesn't hear anything else from him after that.

Sakura graduates as number one kunoichi, above all the clan girls and boys except Sasuke Uchiha.

She is happy with it.

* * *

Sakura is twelve, and there is sweat in her eyes, cramps in her legs and a kunai in her hand, but Sakura doesn't stop moving.

The enemy nin is hurtling senbon at her, and Sakura's sharp eyes notice their glistening tips-coated with poison. She pumps chakra to her feet in a continuous stream, sticking to the side of the bride and almost falling when she raises her foot to move. She can't keep this up forever.

As soon as she tries to step onto the bridge she slips on the ice. The bridge is coated in it.

"You know you can't keep this up." The masked nin said gently.

Hiding behind one of the stone pillars, Sakura has an idea. She had seen Haruhi sensei glide over the counter top back at Tanzuna's house with socked feet.

She adjusts the chakra in her feet and bolts out and onto the ice.

She cringes for a second, before smiling when she glides across the ice like a swan in a pond. She ducks and dodges and weaves around senbon, blocking them from Tazuna. Her hair flips behind her, and she can feel the nin's eyes follow it.

She is in good spirits until she sees Zabuza raising his sword, preparing to cleave Sasuke in half.

"NO!"

But before she can get to him, the nin raises a huge ice wall between them.

Sakura frantically skates around, looking for a way around it, but Haku blocks her each and every time. She is desperate, and about to start crying, when she hears a voice whisper to her from behind one of the heavy machines.

"Use these." The voice whispers. Sakura can faintly make out a shadow of a person in the mist. She can't tell who is it, but Sakura runs to the machines anyway.

She climbs into the driver's seat, blinking at all the knobs, buttons and dials.

Creaks are heard where senbon impale the side of the machine.

Sakura turns the key, grabs the wheel, and presses the accelerator. A startled yell is heard as she collides with the ice wall, shattering it to bits with the full force of the giant machine. She jumps out, and just in time shoves Sasuke out of the way.

The next thing she remembers is waking up to Naruto's crying face.

* * *

She spends a long time thinking about what Haruhi-sensei said.

* * *

She works in the hospital now. It took three weeks in order for her to get approved, even longer for Haku, and it only sped up when Kakashi-sensei personally stepped in. Sakura notices immediately how they treated him with respect because of his status as a clan ninja. And while Haku was also from a clan, she was a foreigner.

Despite being the number one Kunoichi, it took weeks longer than it should have for her to become active at the hospital.

When Ino showed up with them, asking where she needed to register, the receptionist, stood up straight (unlike with Sakura, looked at Ino with respect (unlike with Sakura), and told her everything she needed to know. Unlike with Sakura. Ino had everything taken care of in two days. In what took Sakura and Haku three weeks, Ino got taken care of in two days, with more privileges than them to boot.

She loved Ino like a sister, and was glad they reconciled after the period incident, but that day, she came home shaking with rage.

Her parents could only look at her with painful empathy and resigned understanding.

* * *

She trains. She still likes Sasuke, but the bridge and her near death puts everything into a new life. It would be great to date Sasuke, but this is life or death. The academy always made it sound so grand and spectacular, being a ninja, but now Sakura knows the truth.

The academy did not prepare her for this.

Maybe nothing could have.

She studies. She trains. She learns, and communicates. Friends aren't just friends, but allies, people who could mean life or death for her.

She learns poisons with Ino, medical training with Haku, ninjutsu with Sasuke, Taijutsu with Rock Lee, weapons training with Tenten, Genjutsu with Kurneri, and so much more.

Her parents are proud. Sakura pretends not to notice the worry in their gazes whenever she walks past a clan ninja.

Their reactions are a dose of reality.

She may be improving, but she will always be a civilian born.

Sakura wants to be angry at her parents for that, but she can't find it within herself to be anything other than grateful.

* * *

Don't tell anyone, but TenTen was her favorite. She was the only other new genin who wasn't from a clan. Tenten was born to civilian parents who died in the nine-tails attack, leaving Tenten on her own. With no last name.

But Tenten didn't let that stop her.

She worked for everything she had. She got an apprenticeship under the local blacksmith, and forged many of her own weapons.

Being a year older than Sakura, she has a lot more experience.

Her advice, especially regarding being a civilian born, is crucial. Sakura will have to work for every ounce of respect she gets. And no matter how hard she works, they will always be ninja's who won't respect her. Who will disregard her.

"That's fine, I don't need them to like me!" Sakura exclamins pumping her fist.

" _ **CHA!"**_ Inner shouted her agreement.

Tenten levels her with a look the immediately quiets her.

"What if this ninja is your teammate, and refuse to work with you? And what if this ninja is your superior officer? What if this ninja is the person you have to report to, and they won't listen or believe a word your saying? What if they decided to hand out punishments for a perceived insult? What of they say you are treasonous? That's punishable by death. What if They go out of their way to relocate you to dangerous missions and areas? _This is much more than whether or not they like you, Sakura!"_

Sakura nodded, stunned.

They quietly went back to sharpening their kunai.

* * *

Looking back at all that, Sakura just felt tired.

She was sitting in one of the cots, legs crossed and looking at everyone else in the room. Most of them were asleep.

She saw Karin laying on her side, and Sakura's eyes narrowed as she thought about the enigma of a girl. She had bite scars all up and down her arms and presumably the rest of her body too. She also had a bloodline limit that Sakura had never seen or read of before.

She remembers back when she was frantically studying with Haku, and they were given access to books they normally wouldn't have. There was an upcoming test about healing factors, and how certain clan had them. They needed to study how it affected the healing process and what they should do if they encountered it.

Sakura remembered seeing a red haired woman in the books. Her name was blotted out, but Sakura was pretty sure it started with a "U". Could it be that the Uzumaki were once a clan, with bloodline limits? Karin had said something about how the rest of their clan had died between the second and third shinobi war. Sakura knew that people with bloodline limits were often hunted, like Haku and Sasuke.

And If Karin had one of the Uzumaki bloodlines, the chains, could it be possible she had a healing factor too? The bite marks on her arms could be because people were using it to heal!

During the battle with Gaara, Karin was slashed down her leg with debri, but looking at it now, it was all gone! No medics or anything helped her.

Sakura slid from her cot, and walked over to Karin. Her silenced her footsteps with chakra, stopping over the sleeping girl.

She raised her hand to shake Karin awake from the shoulder, but paused when Karrin stirred and rolled over. She blearily opened her eyes, blinking up at Sakura before stiffening.

"What?"

Sakura stared at her in silence.

" _What?_ "

"...Guilt." Sakura said simply.

Karin sent her a creeped out look. Her hand clenches in the fabric of her shirt.

"That look when we escaped on the summon. It was guilt. You saw how badly injured Ino, was. And you knew you _could heal her with your bloodline limit_." Sakura hissed.

Emotions she had been suppressing for the past few days boiled over, and suddenly she had to restrain herself from jumping over and punching Karin in her mouth.

A part of Sakura was horrified at herself, but as she remembered Ino's mangled face and her own desperation as she fruitslessy tried to ease Ino's suffering, she couldn't find it within herself to care. Karin could have prevented that, but all she could do was muster up a stupid simpering look as they ran for their lives.

" _ **Karin's a coward!"**_

Sakura couldn't agree more.

Karin dashed out of the room, and Sakura gritted her teeth and gave chase. No use in waking up the others.

She skidded out the door and around the corner, coming to a dead halt when she found Karin there waiting for her. Her arms were crossed around her chest, and she was biting her lip.

"You can't tell anyone." She spoke, voice stiff with stress.

Sakura clenched her fist, the leather of her gloves squeaking.

"I won't tell anyone if you heal Ino. _Right now_."

Karin took a deep breath, and then another. Her eyes darted around the hall as if they were trying to find a way to escape. She absentmindedly traced some of her scars with her fingertips.

She opened her mouth to say something, but instead nothing came out.

"What?" Sakura demanded, hand going for her kunai.

Karin got into a defensive position eyes locked onto something Sakura couldn't see.

"There is something wrong! Something is happening!"

"Are we under-"

A huge crashing noise drowned her out, and the two of them were thrown to their sides violently. The coughed as clouds of dust filled the air and choked them. Their ears rang harshly as they desperately tried to gain their footing.

Sakura stood only to sway and almost fall over, when a hand caught her arm.

"K-Kakashi-sensei!"

He looked frazzled. His hair was singed from fire and his vest was spotted with blood. His sharingan was out, and that more than anything told her that this was serious. Karin forgotten, she turned towards her sensei.

"Whats going on?"

He didn't answer her, instead posing his own question.

" _Where is Haruhi, Where is Sasuke?_ "

"I-I don't know. Haruhi went after Sasuke, and Kabuto-san said he'd get them back."

Kakashi froze. He didn't say anything, but the horror in his eyes told her all that she needed to know.

* * *

 **And now Kakashi knows Haruhi and Sasuke are missing.**

 **Things have truly gone sideways, but that pretending like they weren't in the first place.**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you think of Sakura's and Tenten's bond? What do you think of the classism and prejudice in ninja society?**


	39. The Best Laid Plans

Things changed after that.

Contrary to popular belief, Naruto wasn't dumb, and he noticed these things. He had to. Or else an angry citizen would throw a glass bottle at him and those things hurt when they connected.

But after wave, Naruto noticed how different everything was. Haku seemed to represent that. Haruhi-sensei would call it symbolic.

Or something.

Whatever. He didn't care.

He bites his lip.

Haruhi-sensei would call that lying to yourself.

He's not sure when he first noticed something was up, and if asked, he wouldn't be able to pinpoint an exact moment to when his gut started to churn, but if he had to pick an exact moment, it would have been the training grounds behind Sasuke's old houses.

At that point in time, Sakura-chan and Haku were furiously training for their medical entrance exams. They had about a week and a half until they would eat over at Sakura's parents house.

Naruto was pretending to take a nap, but what he was actually doing was watching Kakashi-sensei watch Haruhi-sensei who was watching a leaf bigger than her fall to the ground with distant spacy eyes.

She looks upset, brow furrowed and playing with her dark kinky hair. Kakashi-sensei would probably look worried too, if he didn't have that stupid mask on. But Naruto could see the crinkle in the corner of his eye he only got when Haruhi-sensei did something dumb like fall off a table or run into the middle of a battle with missing nin.

"Hey, Kakashi?" She asks abruptly, and it almost startles him into giving up his cover. Haruhi-sensei is looking at Kakashi with big brown eyes, and she looked distressed over something.

"Are you...um, w-wow it's hard to put in words," She laughs uneasily.

"That's fine. Take your time." Kakashi-sensei answers back kindly. The crinkle in the corner of his eye smoothes out as he smiles at her. Naruto wishes he was that nice with the rest of them.

She takes a deep breath in, and Naruto is concerned to notice her voice wavers.

"Well, um, I just wanted to say, t-that doesn't all this rub you wrong? Like, I'm sorry if I sound a little vague, but haven't you noticed how badly Sakura and Haku have been treated by the higher ups, when Ino was let in in pratcically seconds? A-and it's not just them either. The civilians are always flinching away from passing shinobi, especially chunin or higher. There's something unsettling here, and I'm not sure if I'm seeing things or m-maybe it's because I come from somewhere else, but there's a constant tension hidden under the surface."

Kakashi-sensei lowers his book and puts his finger in the page he was on, and Naruto can tell he's serious.

"This is a military village, Haruhi," He says not unkindly, "There is always a certain level of alertness."

Haruhi frowns deeper.

"That does make sense," She says, but her conflicted undertone says otherwise. "But, like, at the same time, I feel like its more than that…"

"Guess we'll just have to find out." Kakashi says. Haruhi nods, and drops the topic though it's clear that she's still somewhat upset.

Her questions burst Naruto's bubble.

He had always know, to some extent, that the village hidden in the leaves wasn't a perfect place. He knew that intimately, in fact. A Lifetime of isolation and scorn would do that to you.

Rich citizens and ninja who thought they were better than him because they weren't orphans and had clans spit on him. Many called him demon, but even more mocked him for his social status as an orphan with no known ninja parents. In fact, it was the immigrants and the poor who faced similar scorn to him that tolerated him.

Never loved, or appreciated, but tolerated. ( A big portion of the slums were destroyed in the nine-tails attack). Naruto knew suffering often brought people together, or at least to an understanding. If you saw a person suffer, you knew they were human, and could feel just as you do.

But despite all that, he was only now realizing how bad it was.

The villagers saw him suffer, but he wasn't a person to them, so it meant nothing. Naruto had desperately denied that reality, pushing it under his bed, locking it up and throwing away the key. He so desperately wanted to believe in the pureness of the village. He had nothing else.

But Haruhi was relentlessly. She was unwavering in her criticisms and observations. She dragged it out from under the metaphorical bed with snatching fingers, She jumped after the key and dug on hands and knees until she found it, stood up and ran towards the door and jammed it into the lock. She swung it open with the force of an elephant.

His figurative third eye was open, and never more than now did the phrase _what has been seen cannot be unseen_ ring true.

He remembers long ago, when he was really young and before he got on the level where he could evade ANBU, how he would always be caught by the Uchiha police.

He remembers the first time he was caught, he was really scared. He cried a lot and didn't stop for a long time. He rubbed his eyes and got orange paint in them. One of the officers came over and carried him into the bathroom. He cleaned his face with tissues and gave him one of the peppermints on the desk. He had lines on his face, and medium brown hair that grew past his ears. A Lady with blue-black hair came and washed his clothes from him. She had eyes like Sasuke.

Both of them looked at him with kindness, and sadness.

He pulled more pranks, but never saw them again. It took awhile for him to realize it was because they were both killed in the Uchiha massacre.

Naruto noticed how they were treated. Like him. Sure, maybe not with the same levels of scorn or hatred, but that undercurrent of uneasiness that Haruhi-sensei was talking about was there.

It made him itch to run back into the storage room where he got the forbidden jutsu scroll and grab the one with the Uchiha crest on it.

But looking at the current situation, he knew that was impossible.

Currently, Naruto was standing next to Haku and Sakura, Karin shuffling her feet off to the side. Kakashi-sensei was in front of them, arguing with the village elders.

"-Send me after them, the scent trail is still there-"

"We do not have time to waste on a civilian." Danzo cuts in. He was referring to Haruhi-sensei.

Kakashi clenches his fists so hard his gloves squeak.

"Fine, then send me after Sasuke!"

"A team of trackers was already sent. Hatake Kakashi, the copy nin needs to stay in the village as a sign of moral in these trying times." Another village elder said. She had gray hair up in a knot.

After the attack in the Tower, the village was in certifiable chaos. The Kazekage was apparently dead. He was found out when Temari had burst into the conference room. Gaara lashed out with his sand, and when the Kazekage didn't counter it with his own gold, they called him an imposter.

Who was apparently this Orochimaru guy. Who was a big deal.

"You know that I am one of the best in the village." Kakashi said, voice terse.

"I have sent Nin after him. We need you in the village in order to make up for Lord thirds absence." Danzo said again. Naruto didn't miss the way Kakashi tensed and how Danzo didn't say them.

And he grit his teeth at the reminder of what happened to the old man. This snake guy, Oreo, or whatever, had hurt the old man so bad that he was still in the hospital. It didn't look like he would be waking up anytime soon, and until then, Danzo and the elders were in charge.

And they didn't care about Sasuke or Haruhi-sensei.

Not to long ago, Naruto would have shouted at them, yelled, cried and carried on, but now he knows it is not the time for that. He doesn't want to draw suspicion onto himself.

He tells Kakashi-sensei that they are going elsewhere and he waves them away. He is incredibly busy, the elders forcing mission after mission on him to keep him distracted. They threatened him with treason charges when he stood up to the elders. Kakashi-sensei is trapped.

When he tried to say Haruhi-sensei was his mission given to him by lord-third, Danzo said Lord-third wasn't here right now.

Instead, when they are dismissed they follow their fuming sensei out the doors and Naruto whispers to Haku, Karin, and Sakura where he knows Kakashi-sensei won't hear.

" _Let's meet in Ino's hospital room in half an hour."_ Naruto sends three shadow clones to spread the rest of the message to the Konoha eleven. He will not stand by while Sasuke and Haruhi are kept in torment. It has been a week and three days too long.

The gather at Ino's door and knock.

"Come in," It's Choji.

They open the door. Ino at first didn't want to see anybody at all, but now she can't see enough of her friends. Naruto thinks it makes her feel safer. The quarter of her face not covered lights up when she spots Haku and Sakura.

There is some weird tension going on with Sakura and Karin, but right now he doesn't have the time to figure it out.

"We're having a meeting. The rest are gonna come soon." Naruto grunts nervously.

They sit and wait, the air crackling with tension. In a few minutes, Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino trickle in. It's getting pretty cramped.

They close the door behind them. Teten activated one of her privacy seals. They all stare at him, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm planning on going after Sasuke and Haruhi-sensei since the village doesn't care. Who's with me?"

Naruto braces for yelling, chaos, and maybe even a punch from Sakura, even though she stopped that, but instead he is met with a grim, determined silence.

"I'm in. What's the plan?" Tenten says. No one contradicts her, instead nodding and looking encouragingly at him.

He swallows.

"Are you sure? This is um, unauthorized." Yes, that was the word. "If we get caught, we could be tried for treason." Naruto cautions.

"Who here is willing to participate raise you hands," Kiba growls and raises his hand.

Everyone else did too.

"W-wow, okay, so let's come up with a plan," Naruto says overwhelmed by the support and blinking back tears.

The put their heads together and get to work.

Haku will stay with Ino as a base of operations. He will make Ice-clones of all of them(sturdier than shadow clones) and Ino will take their memories and make sure they act enough like themselves to slip under the radar.

Hinata suggests the clones all volunteer for in village d-rank missions so they spend as much time away from their families as possible. Their sensei's won't be a big issue. All the jounin are on call and taking high ranking missions in order to restore confidence in the village after the fiasco that was the second stage of the exams.

Kiba is one of the best trackers in Konoha since his mother was born. He knows Sasuke's and Haruhi's scents from the months of training they all did together. Karin chimes in at this point and adds that she is a great sensor, and can sense weeks old chakra.

Shikamaru adds that he can stay here to deflect suspicions and open a back door for then to leave and enter back in through the Nara forests. Security had increased ever since the tower incident. Choji will bring food and supplies. Sakura will act as team leader, coming up with a moving plan. Hinata needs to stay behind. Her clan will notice, but Neji will come along as muscle.

Naruto looks at his fellow genin and thinks he doesn't need to be Hokage when all the people who believe in him are right here. Then he remember a woman who taught him to open his eyes.

Kiba remembers a woman complimenting his tracking, and laughing at his burps. She didn't call him stupid.

Shikamaru remembers a woman who told him strange riddles to keep him thinking and entertained.

Shino remembers a woman who didn't flinch back in disgust and contempt, but rather asked about his bugs

Tenten remembers a woman who questioned things most glanced over, a woman who saw her plight instead of ignoring it.

Hinata remembers a woman who gave her the confidence she needed to stand up for herself.

Neji remembers a woman who thought differently, and opened his mind to hear what his cousin had to say.

Haku remembers a woman who convinced her to keep living, and who accepted her as she was.

Ino remembered a woman who took care of her and got her friend back when no one else was there to.

Choji remembers a woman who liked food as almost as much as he did, and who didn't make fun of him for his weight.

Lee remembers a woman who clapped and cheered for him after each lap he completed.

Sakura remembers a woman who gave her advice that changed her life.

And Karin remembers a woman who smiled at her with kindness and gave closure and comfort to Sasuke when no one else would.

The stage is set.

They makes plans for midnight tomorrow. They have today to pack and get ready. To say goodbye and prepare themselves.

None of them notice the floating sand eyeball in the corner.

* * *

 **Question of the chapter: how do you think Haruhi's actions and ideas have effected the konoha eleven and co?**


	40. Rising Action

Sakura discretly wiped her hands on the front of her njnja blouse, mouth filled with nervous saliva as they waited for the chunin at the mission desk to hand out missions to the other teams.

"Team Gai! Your mission will be too hunt rouge creatures from the forest of death and keep them contained in the training grounds. Pack your bags, you'll have to stay overnight in the forest for a while."

None of team Gai, not even Lee looked pleased to stay in the forest another day, let alone a few of them, but the mission was the exact type they were looking for. Something relatively easy, in village, simple, and something that takes you away from your sensei and family. They accepted the mission and moved on, Rock Lee giving her and Naruto a thumbs up, Tenten a wink, and Neji a polite, stiff nod.

"Team Eight! Your mission is to help with repairs caused by the snake summons and escaping animals from the forest of death."

Kiba smirked. Most of the damage happened far away from his clan compound, the same being for Shino. They'd be able to squirm out of family interaction and even stay the night at some emergency tents.

"Team Ten!"

Shikamaru and Choji stepped forward, faces uncharacteristically grim. The absence of Ino between the two of then was like a gaping black hole. Sakura tried not to think of the spot where Sasuke and Haruhi used to be.

"Your mission is to aid and assist around the village with security. Ferry letters back between Chunin and their outposts at the wall." The desk Chunin handed they the mission and dismissed them.

"...Naruto Uzumaki." The man's lip curled with distast. " Your mission is cleaning up waste left by the rouge creatures."

They looked at each other in surprise and fear. They weren't supposed to be seperated. Sakura could feel the others surprise and worry over the mental link Ino had established before Tenten sent reassurance towards them.

They could work around this.

Naruto reluctantly left, Leaving Sakura all by herself in the mission room with only the Chunin for company. The rest of the chunin were on active duty, doing damage control and trying to patch the holes in the walls and capture all the dangerous rouge creatures from the forest of death.

"You were in kunoichi classes correct?" He asked her curtly. His eyes had that familiar dismissive look, the type all ninja-borns wore when they saw a civilian-born like her.

She squared her shoulders and nodded.

"Then you are familiar with seduction?" He still wasn't looking at her, eyes roving over the mission sheet boredly.

Sakura's heart started racing. Seduction?

Finally looking up and seeing her confused expression, he elaborated in a careless way.

"Some lower noble. Has a thing for little girls. Normally we don't take these mission, especially to younger shinobi like you, but keep him "company" for a weekend, and he'll pay Konoha and help with the damages."

He tossed her the scroll and it bounced off her chest and to the ground with a dull thunk.

His words echoed in her head. Has a thing for little girls? What was that supposed to mean?

Would she have to kiss him?

But she didn't want to! She was saving herself! Sakura knew this was a possibility ever since she has first joined the academy, but the thought that she might have to go on a honeypot mission herself never really occurred to her until right now, where it was suckerpunching her in the gut.

She picked up the scroll with numb fingers and opened it. A picture of an ugly, fat, old man stared back at her. Late fifties early sixties. The scroll elaborated on keeping him company. She was supposed to do things like kissing and hugging he he wanted her too, and if he wanted to have s-

She looked away, only to catch the desk chunins eyes.

"Is something the matter? I know this isn't really talked about in _civilian_ homes, but most ninja always know this is a possibility. Look on the bright side. This mission will teach you how to be a real ninja." He said patronizingly, as if Sasuke Uchiha hadn't beaten her out by only a handful of points on the physical test. As if she wasn't Kunoichi of the year, as if she wasn't the student of Hatake Kakashi with a A-rank under her belt.

Sakura was _fucking proud_ of her civilian background. It meant she wasn't a stuck up pretentious egotistical ass like he was! Her parents were ten times better than he was!

"Girl, take this mission now or be tried for treason later on. Your choice." The chunin snapped, getting annoyed.

Sakura jumped.

People who were accused of treason were often killed, especially during times of crisis like this.

" _Now, is that really necessary_?" A voice purred.

Sakura turned to see the purple haired special jounin saunter in the room. Faint bags lined her eyes, and her steps were almost sluggish, but there was power in her movement, the lethal grace she saw in the leopards in the forest of death.

"Sending a green genin on a seduction mission? Tsk tsk." She clucked, full painted red lips curling into a sneer.

Sakura recognized her as the proctor to the second chunin exams.

"Anko. Nice to see you doing well after your encounter with your former sensei." He said curtly. Sakura notice he was leaning back slightly.

A dangerous auroa filled the room. Killing intent, and Sakura was glad it wasn't aimed at her. Zabuza's had felt like the edge of a knife at your throat. Orochimaru's had felt slimy and crushing. Anko's felt like razor sharp eyes staring out at you from somewhere unseen, biding her time.

Anko plucked the mission scroll from Sakura's limp fingers.

"I'll take this from here. You go with your other teammate." Anko said. Her voice was neutral, but Sakura's voice caught in her her throat as she recognized the same protective stance Haruhi and Kakashi got whey they were protecting them.

She scurried out of the room, shaked to her core.

Naruto was waiting for her, having heard everything and held her as she cried.

* * *

Crickets chirped as figures dashed by in the moonlight. Chakra muffled their footsteps as they flashed by, following in Shikamaru's trail. Haku's Ice clones of them were in place, at their respective missions. They had packed everything into storage seals of Tenten's own making, and had said goodbye to their families.

Border security had increased ever since the attack. They were going to leave through the Nara woods.

' _You guys stay safe. Haku and I will take it from here.'_ Ino's voice echoed softly in their heads. It was already fading from distance, and in a few miles would be gone entirely.

Shino tagged them all with his bugs. Akamaru sniffed each of them until he had their scents memorized, and Karin put a seal on each of them she had worked on with Tenten. It remained inactivated, but if they pumped chakra into it Karin's already prodigal sensory skills would be able to pick them out from anywhere.

They paused for a moment, looking back at Konoha gleaming in the night, before one-by-one, they disappeared into the forest.

The Sasuke and Haruhi retrieval mission was a go.

* * *

Sand slithered over stone. The metal of a battle fan shimmered in the moonlight. Silver chakra strings glinted across tree limbs like a spiders webs.

* * *

Anko tried not to snarl as she glared at the mission scroll in her hands for the seventh time that day. Her vision went white with rage at the thought of some green genin girl being forced on a seduction mission, threatened with charges of treason.

She means, come on! Being the apprentice of one of Konoha's most famous and only missing nin meant she had no time for illusions. The betrayal of her sensei and the horrific things he did to her and others would forever weight on her minds.

But they weren't Kiri, for gods sake! Seduction wasn't a main staple of theirs!

She growled as another no name jounin sent her a suspicious look. She hated the snake-basted as much, if not more then them. This was more than annoying at this point.

She had to be angry though, or else she would be depressed and nauseous.

The thought of Kizashi's and Mebuki's daughter being forced to cozy up to some old man…

She shook her head.

She wondered how her old teammate was taking this. She hadn't talked to Kizashi in years, too ashamed of herself for not realizing what Orochimaru was up to before it was too late, and their team shattered to pieces. She wanted to tell him she was sorry for not saving their other teammate. The teammate she _knew_ was the weakest of them all, always coughing and sneezing. She wanted to tell him that it was okay if he blamed her, and that she didn't judge him for retiring, for the ninja life becoming too much for him.

Most ninja never retired and burned out at 20, going on suicide runs as an excuse to end it all. She wanted to tell him she thought he was brave for retiring when doing anything short of giving your life for your village was looked down upon. But Kizashi decided to stay alive for his wife and daughter.

Dying would have been easy, but he stayed alive.

As she looked down at the scroll in her hands, flashes of Kizashi's and Mebuki's faces danced across her field of vision. They were too good for a fuck up like her.

Looks like all she could do was look after Sakura

She pocketed the scroll and dashed across rooftops, scanning for Sakura. With the gloom hanging over the village, she needed to make sure she was safe.

She spent hours looking for the girl.

When she finally spotted them cleaning up after some of the rouge animals she cursed. Her snake summons told her they were cold-blooded. Ice clones. She followed her snake's directions and cursed and spat when she realized they lead out of the village. They were going after Sasuke and Haruhi. After Orochimaru. Those stupid fucking kids had no idea what they were getting into.

Anko stood there for a single second before summoning a snake.

"Deliver this message to Hatake Kakashi. Maito Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai."

She recited her message, watched the summon slither away, and then dashed after the children.

She would protect them.

No more children would die by Orochimaru's hand. Not if she had anything to say about it.

* * *

 **Yes, everything is being put into place. This is a bomb waiting to go off, and once it does, it will shake the ninja worlds very foundations. And surprise! Anko was Kizashi's teammate! I just thought that was a cool idea, Ya know? I think it ties in nicely with the rest of my story.**

 **Kakashi is gonna freak when he finds out what they did, but there is nothing he can do about it? You know that one scene in mulan where she leaves for the army but they don't go after her? Thats because they would have exposed her secret and would have gotten her killed. Kakashi won't be able to chase after them, due to the council watching him and waiting for him to do just that.**

 **Danzo Sees Kakashi as the threat he is to his power, and Kakashi knows this. if he went he would expose the genin and they would all be charged with treason, Danzo using this opportunity to eliminate another competitor for hokage. he's stuck.**

 **Yeah, and how about that mission with sakura? Pretty messed up. Konoha has and still does sexually abuse children for monetary gain. Thats pretty much canon, and its wrong beyond belief.**

 _ **Important announcement: I am going on** **Hiatus**_ **.**

 **Yes, you are reading that right. School is starting in a handful of days, and I still have so much to do. Again, I am buy no means quitting this story. I have come to love and appreciate it and you guys so much. Words cannot explain how much you guys mean to me. After I get settled in school I will update again until I have completed objectivity.**

 **Again, don't freak out.**

 **Thank you for all the love and support.**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you like or not like about this story? What do you find interesting or unique? What caught you off guard? And what do you think would be cool to see?"**


	41. It's One Big Party

Tenten breathed in deeply as she perched on a tree limb hundreds of feet above the ground. Keen brown eyes scanned where the treeline met the night sky, the only sound crickets and the rustling of leaves in the cool midnight breeze.

Someone was following them.

She flared her chakra ever so slightly, just enough so Karin and Shino could pick up on it and relate it back to the others. She saw the distant flash of a Konoha headband;

One,

Two,

Three.

Message received. Neji activated his bloodline.

Tenten took yet another deep breath as she contemplated the absolute absurdness of the genin, most of them only a few months into their training, out on an unauthorized retrieval mission to save the last Uchiha and a woman who was more full of secrets than Neji was filled with angst, from one of the most powerful and dangerous missing-nin known to the elemental nations.

But even that had changed, hadn't it? In the week and a half since the Forest of death incident Neji had almost seemed to be...at peace with himself. A tenseness she hadn't even realized was there had evaporated, and he had emerged from the exams a new person. He smiled, which almost never happened before, and granted, still didn't happen much, but was still there.

Everything seemed to have taken two steps to the left while Tenten wasn't looking. Tenten who had spent her entire life on edge, watching the village moves, waiting for something to snap, knew that a breaking point was fast approaching.

And she didn't know what it was.

It made her blood boil.

A few years ago, it was the Uchiha. While the ninja scratched their heads like the sheep they were and let the Hokage and the council guide their thoughts, the civilians and the civilian-borns cowered and did their best to make it look like bowing. But then again, that's pretty much the same thing, isn't it? They knew of Konoha's long history of discrimination, they knew the true meaning of seeing underneath the underneath, and they knew the genocide of the Uchiha clan wasn't just some freak accident.

Tenten didn't dare search for answers to what really went down, but her curiosity burned inside her all the same.

The world had shifted a few degrees onto its side yet again and this time, Tenten's curiosity would be satiated.

She turned her body so that it was parallel with the treelimb she was on, and observed the boy hovering on a cloud of sand in front of her.

The bags under his eyes were even more pronounced than before which Tenten had believed to be impossible. His arms were crossed, fingers digging into his biceps and his pupils seemed to train on her with desperation.

Her keen weapons mistress eyes noticed and felt the rest of her group desperately signaling her to jump away, but she didn't want to do that.

She wanted answers.

She looked Gaara straight in the eyes, lifted a single brow, and waited.

He didn't take long.

"What is my purpose."

Tenten blinked. That was...not what she had been expecting. Maybe shouts of revenge for the insult of a civilian-borne girl taking the son of the Kazekage down. Maybe some gloating. Some edgy monologues of death and destruction. Not for him to be asking her what he should do with his life. How the hell was she supposed to know that?

He was staring at her, the glint of desperation in his eyes becoming more pronounced.

"Please, what is my purpose?' And at this point it was more begging than asking. Tenten was surprised at his manners, considering that fact he grinded off most of Ino's face not two weeks ago.

A part of her flinched at the reminder of how the world was drenched in the blood of senseless violence, but outwardly, she showed nothing.

"That's a big question." She said bluntly. "I hardly know you. How can you expect me to answer something like that when I don't know you?"

He gave her a considering look, then opened his mouth. Tenten prepared herself for the probably horrific backstory.

"Before I was born, my father elected to have a monster implanted within me. He thought I would be born with tremendous strength and power because of it. Instead, It sapped the strength away from my mother, taking away her life, and I was born small and weak."

Tenten's eyes narrow in sorrow, but not surprised. The were all considered tools and weapons of war to some extent. Gaara was a extreme case.

"From my very first breaths I have been a failure. I have killed the only person to ever love me, and failed to control the beast sealed inside. For so long, I tried to fix that by showing I cared, but everyone ran from me."

It sounded to her like Gaara's purpose was to be a weapon of mass destruction. That was a lot of pressure to put on a baby. No wonder he snapped.

"My caretaker was my uncle, my mother's brother. He taught me of Love, and said my mother had loved me. For a long time I thought he did too."

Anticipation, dread, for what was to come next had Tenten swallowing heavily.

"He tried to assassinate me when I was five. I found out that it was on my father's orders."

Tenten closed her eyes.

"Can you believe that finding out it was orders made me happy? That my uncle could maybe still love me, that he only did it because of orders? That it was nothing personal. Not my fault."

She could believe it.

Gaara was looking down at his hands, which he had removed from his biceps.

"The wounds he had sustained from my sand shield were fatal. But before he died, he cleared that up. He had never loved me. Even if they were orders, if he had loved me, he would never had done it."

He scowled.

" _I then decided that if no one else would love, me than I would love me and only myself, and make them pay for daring to hurt me!_ "

"..."

" _A child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort…_ " Tenten murmured under her breath before speaking louder.

"What changed that?" Tenten asked. Not softly, but certainly less sharply than before.

"You, and him. That Uchiha boy."

Once again, Tenten blinked in surprise.

"It was my purpose to destroy him, to prove my worth to live, but instead he survived. I should have crushed you, but you knocked me unconscious. How? It was your purpose to fall before me, how did you not?"

Having had much experience with angsty teenage boys who believed resistance was futile, Tenten leveled her experienced, sympathetic gaze on him.

"Someone born as low as me has no purpose. No great expectations. The only purpose you could say I had was to serve as civilian-borne cannon fodder for clan ninja."

Gaara listened in attentively, and against her will, his green eyes reminded her of Sakura's; hungry for guidance.

"I decided I didn't want that. I decided to do something else, become something great, and defy what they wanted me to be."

"Is it that simple?"

Tenten smiled sadly.

"No. Of course not. I cannot speak for Sasuke, and your situation is vastly more complicated than mine, but what I've found out about life, it that we can choose what we want to become and how we act, even if we didn't choose to be born poor, or with a demon sealed within us." _Or born a slave with a caged-bird seal, or in a family doomed to die._

"How do I start?" Gaara demanded after a moment of contemplation.

Tenten's eyes sparkled mischievously, but before she could respond, the rest of the genin had jumped down beside her.

Choji and Sakura were glaring at Gaara with all the hatred they could muster.

Naruto was staring at Gaara with an horrified looked on his face. Tenten noticed his hand on his stomach. Lee and Neji landed behind her, each putting a hand on her shoulder, while Kiba, Shino, and Karin stayed off to the side.

Temari and Kankuro jumped down to their little brothers side.

"Leave. Before we make you." Sakura snarled, the memory of her best friend and sister-figure's brutalized face fresh on her looked like he couldn't agree more.

Tenten stood up.

"Wait. We could use their help."

Everyone turned to stare at her.

"We can't do this by ourselves. Those three could be powerful backup."

"While that's true, aren't the Suna nin gonna be going crazy?" Kiba asked insightfully.

"I dispatched sand clones to act in our stead." Gaara answered.

"He hurt Ino!" Choji growled, and wow, that sounded really different than what Tenten was used to.

It was about to devolve into complete chaos before Gaara cut in.

"I wish to atone."

"..."

Sensing that no one was going to speak unless he explained, Gaara spoke.

"I have done much wrong in my life due to the wrong done to me. I wish to break the circle. I will help you get Sasuke Uchiha and Haruhi-sensei back."

Sakura snarled.

"Fine. _Fine! But one wrong move and I'll kill you myself!"_ Sakura turned and launched herself back into the treetops, sneering at Karin as she went. Naruto shot one last wide-eyed look at Gaara before following her. The others got into formation, and Tenten caught Temari's eyes.

"You're looking for answers too, huh?"

Temari eyed her, before nodding.

"Someone warned me about the Kazekage. I think it was her."

It spoke volumes that Tenten didn't even have to ask who Temari was talking about.

Tenten sighed.

"We're all just people with questions, looking for answers." She mused sardonically.

Temari snorted in amusement, and Tenten felt her heart flutter.

" _Indeed_. Got room for one more?"

They had out their weapons in seconds, pointed at the source of the voice. It was a Kunoichi with spiky purple hair, a trenchcoat, fishnet shirt that revealed way too much, and a brown skirt.

"Anko-sensei!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Bingo, kiddo. I'll be accompanying you guys during the rescue, cause knocking everyone single one of you guys out and dragging you back is damn near impossible. Lets go!" Anko jumped ahead, cackling.

Tenten took a second to utter a prayer, and jumped after her

* * *

Sasuke grit his teeth. He would not give in. He would not listen to them.

The snakes whispered sweet nothings into his ears. Hollow promises of power, of revenge, of being able to kill all he wanted.

Sasuke would have snorted in laughter, if he wasn't trying his best not to scream in frustration.

Sasuke had seen enough death. The only person he wanted to kill was Itachi, and no one else if he could help it. Orochimaru spoke of letting him murder unrestrained like that was something he wanted. No.

If he started to kill anyone and everyone who even slightly inconvenienced him he would be no better than Itachi. It make him sick to his stomach that there were many people in this world who thought that was the best way.

A python curled around his shoulders, whispering of unimaginable strength, and he grimaced.

He would not cave. He would not give in. Submitting to Orochimaru would be to give the power of the Uchiha bloodline to someone who was even worse than Itachi.

His wrists ached as he tried to break free of the snakes, desperate to see if Haruhi-sensei was okay. He hadn't seen her in...God, he didn't know how long. It was dark down here, and for all he knew, weeks could have past.

Sensing his anxiety, the snakes started hissing.

Haruhi-sensei had judged him at first. Raised a dismissive eyebrow, made sharp comments, and snorted at his actions and words. She thought she knew better, she thought she knew him. And she thought there was nothing about him worth her while.

But something had her change her mind. In an act of humility and self contemplation that had left him awed upon reflection, Haruhi had admitted her arrogance, her judgemental attitude, her mistakes, and had promptly apologized and did her best to make up for it in any way possible.

Sasuke was so used to people just assuming things about him that he had ignored her at first. But after that…

No one had ever apologize to him before for judging and thinking they knew him. Even Sakura hadn't done that.

If a ninja made a mistake, they covered it up, or acted like they meant to do that or that it was a good thing.

Not Haruhi.

She listened to him. She didn't want anything from him other than to make up for her wrong-doings. She offered advice and comfort Kakashi-sensei never could, whether it be because of his own emotional constipation, or because it would be treason.

Haruhi had went from just another person who dismissed him, to someone who was humbled and genuinely cared about him. She helped him get dressed for Sakura's party, and bought his favorite food when they went out with a secret wink and a sly smile. She comforted him and didn't mock him for not wanting to kill. She flirted with Kakashi and tricked him into teaching him cool Jutsu's. She expected him to be no one but himself.

No one had been this nice to him since…

Sasuke blinked his burning eyes, and took a deep, shaky, breath.

He hoped she was okay.

He really did

* * *

 **It's labor day weekend! And this story finally topped a thousand favorites. Y'all get an update!**

 **And gosh, so many things going on all at once, huh? What should Ino do with Sakura's bloodline? How will Anko react to being so close to her former teammates daughter? What will Sakura do with Karin? How will Naruto react to Learning Gaara's also a jinchuriki? What do Temari and Kankuro think about Gaara's turn? How will they react to Orochimaru, knowing what he did to their village? How will Sasuke and Gaara interact? What will happen to the village, with lord third in a coma, Tsunade no where in sight, and Danzo in command? If they all make it out alive, will they be tried for treason and killed? How is Kakashi taking all of this? Are the exams even still on? Will there be a third part? Will someone attack Konoha early to take advantage of its weakness?**

 **and most importantly;**

 **IS HARUHI OKAY!?**

 **FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON DRAGONBALL Z!**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you think of Sasuke now? What do you think will happen next?**


	42. The Ties That Bind

In, one two three four five.

Pause.

Out, one two three four five.

Pause.

In, one two three-

Haruhi's mental counting was abruptly interrupted as her shaky breathing tapered off into painful sounding hacking. She doubled over, wrists aching from straining against the bonds as bile splashed against the dirty floor.

She groaned, head thumping against the wall behind her. That was not a smart move, as her already pounding migraine has her seeing stars from the intensity of the pain.

Tears tracked down her face against her will, sobs want to well up past her lips but she bit down harshly. She wouldn't give those fuckers the satisfaction.

" _It's okay to cry, you know_."

Haruhi's eyes snapped open. She didn't even realize she had closed them.

"Who's there?!" She croaked.

Silence.

Bleary eyes scanned the darkness of the cavernous hallway. So deep and encompassing it would swallow hamster Haruhi right up. Without her glasses, she was blinder than normal. And the weak flickering of the torch provided meager relief.

Maybe she had finally lost it.

After being kidnapped, beaten up, thrown, dropped, and experimented on, maybe her brain finally phoned it in.

After seeing the absolute clusterfuck that was ninja society she had just blue screened. She quit! Ka-put!

She sucked in a deep breath, chest rumbling from congestion as she tried and fail to regain any sense of control. It slipped through her fingers like water. Like trying to capture a cloud in a jar. Or some shit, she didn't know.

" _Again, it's okay to cry."_

Oh, she _had so not_ imagined that.

"Who's there!?" She snapped. Her eyes roved over the bubbling darkness, and she gasped when she spotted the silhouette of a person in the corner of the hallway.

Haruhi doubted that even with her glasses she would have been able to tell anything of significance about the person. They wore black like a cloak. Their voice was purposefully lowered as to make it indistinguishable from either gender. Their frame could have been a slim man or a well built woman. It was impossible to tell.

They hesitated and Haruhi held her breath.

" _...someone who wants to help."_

Their voice was clearly lowered on purpose, and muffled by cloth. It sounded like it was made to be gravally.

"No shit." Haruhi said, just so tired with everything.

" _Honest."_ They sounded so sincere too.

"Not gonna judge me for bawling like a baby? Throwing a little pity-party. Aren't I supposed to suck it up or something? Walk it off? Or whatever the bullshit ninja code says. No tears." Haruhi drawled, head spinning from hunger.

" _Not at all._ " They whispered.

"Then what are you gonna do?"

The figure moved towards Haruhi and she felt her heart leap into her throat, but all they did was shade the torch so Haruhi couldn't make out their features. Not like it would really matter without her glasses but each to his own she guessed.

Haruhi hears the jangling of keys and she is frozen as they slide into the lock. A clanging noise rings through the cell, and her hair stands on end as the jail door shrieks as it's slid open.

She licks her cracked lips. The shackles shaked along with her hands.

The mysterious person is wearing gloves. Gently, they remove the chains with the tips of their fingers and help Haruhi lower her hands. They place apple slices and crackers in her lap, and a water bottle beside her. Haruhi could cry in relief.

" _It's okay to cry."_ They repeated.

In the cover of darkness, where no one can see her, she cries.

She lets it all out.

 _You have been through unimaginable things these past couple of months. Far more than anyone should have had to deal with. Crying is nothing to be ashamed of, or to hide. You did your best with what you had, and I'm proud of you. But, even then, things will not always go well for you or how you planned them to, and it's important for you to know that it's not your fault."_

Haruhi sniffled.

" _Eat up. I'm going to leave your glasses and this by your feet. You have a bit of time before they arrive but not much. Finish and leave."_

The shadow turned and strode down the hallway, saying one last thing before disappearing.

" _You have a choice to make."_

Haruhi called for them to stop, but they were already gone.

A second passed, before she shoved some cracker in her face. She chewed furiously, before downing some of the bottle. She finished the rest of the crackers and started on the apple slices.

She has the last few crammed into her mouth before she stood up on bambi legs. She patted the floor for her glasses and puts them on. Immediately her dank cell, no matter how dim, is thrown into sharp relief. She can make out the individual chains in the link, and the bricks on the side walls.

Her eyes land on a scrap of paper halfway to the door.

She lightly jogs over, and just stops to look at it.

It's the same seal that Haruhi had traced on the cover of her laminated book. It was the same seal she had emerged from in the hokage's office, which Kabuto had evidently stolen.

It was the same seal that had been used to make her full sized again.

Haruhi stared at it for a solid minute, wrapped in disbelief, before she stooped down and picked it up between her thumb and index finger.

It was hard to describe what it was like, going from a few inches tall back to her height of 5'9. It was dizzying. The best way she could describe it was like being on the elliptical for hours on end. When you finally step off the machine, walking regularly felt...strange.

She staggered out of the cell, ripping the torch off the wall. Haruhi trudged down the hall. She walked past rows of empty cells, calling out Sasuke's name.

She became more desperate with each one.

"Sasuke, please." She calls into the one at the end. No dice.

Her breathing is coming in short panicked gasps now, and she can feel the anxiety attack pressing in from the corners of her vision.

Haruhi sags against the wall, and it takes all she has in her not to drop her torch.

Shaking her head, she forces herself to stand. She can breakdown later. Sasuke needs her right now.

She thumps down the stone spiral staircase, and freezes as she hears a commotion.

"Orochimaru-sama wants me to guard the asset. You three hold of the invaders!"

"Yes sir!"

Three ninja wearing similar clothes to Orochimaru leap out one of the windows, and the one who barked the orders runs to the opposite side of the hall and turns the corner.

Haruhi creeps down to the last step, jumps off, and chases after him.

She knows, in her heart, that the asset must be Sasuke.

It has to be Sasuke.

Her brain is kicked into overdrive and she growls as she limps down the halls. The asset, really? That's what they were calling him? What kind of dehumanizing fuckery was that.

She turns the corner and stops dead in her tracks, a blade pressed to her throat.

She swallowed, feeling the blade press further into her jugular.

The person sighed.

"Oh, it's you. I didn't recognize you like that. Let me guess, Orochimaru?" they said, and leaned back. Haruhi turned around to find Anko standing behind her.

"Yes. Do you know where Sasuke is?" Haruhi asked. Haruhi stared at the body of the nin who was alive not one minute ago. His head was half severed by the same kunai just held at her throat.

Anko's lips pressed into a thin line, but before she could speak, a faint hissing noise cut her off.

Haruhi's stomach dropped, and she slowly turned towards the black hole in the wall where a door should be. She forced her feet to move towards the hissing, eyes alight with fear.

She stared into the abyss, holding out her torch in front of her.

The dim light had her thinking for a second she was hallucinating.

Sasuke was tied to the wall, ropes and cords circling his wrists, legs, and knees. Cords wound around his neck and shoulders, many more draped around his waist and legs. Her eyes widened in realization.

Those weren't cords.

 _Those were snakes._

Giving a shout of horror, Haruhi stumbled backwards and away from the pit, falling hard on her ass. Her torch clattered to her left, flame nearly sputtering out before stabilizing, the rush of oxygen making it brighter.

The Snakes were Mamushi. Haruhi recognized it from when Sakura and Haku were studying poisons.

"Y-you have to help him!" She begged Anko. A few bites and Sasuke was done for.

Anko scowled. Hands moving too fast for Haruhi's eyes to follow, she bit her thumb and shouted.

"Summoning jutsu!"

More snakes popped into existence at her feet and it was an exercise in self control for Haruhi not to jump away. Anko's snakes slithered into the pit and wound they're way around Sasuke, slowly dislodging the Mamushi.

Haruhi put her hands together and prayed.

Her eyes tracked the snakes, hoping they wouldn't recognize the others as imposters. Haruhi heard shouting from somewhere far away in the castle, and her lips quickened their pace.

She wanted to loot the nin's body, take his shoes for her bare feet, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Sasuke.

He was pale as a ghost, lips cracked and dry from hunger and thirst. Ropey bruises covered the few exposed parts of his body from where snakes had crushed his failing limbs.

Achingly slowly, Anko's snakes wound under the one on his neck.

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open.

Haruhi shed a few tears of relief.

He seemed confused at first, eyes gliding over her like she didn't exist. His eyes were unseeing, and his head lolled to the side. After a second, he regained his bearings enough to spot her.

He tensed up.

The Mamushi started to hiss and Haruhi did the universal sign for silence at Sasuke.

He still seemed weak, but infinitely better than just a few seconds ago. He nodded slightly and watched as Anko's snakes replaced Orochimaru's.

He turned to stare at her, seemingly not being able to believe what was right before his eyes. Haruhi gave him a watery smile.

The last snake was replaced. Anko slowly edges Sasuke towards them, over the writing mass of deadly snakes a few feet below him. He reaches out with one hand, and Haruhi reaches back, making sure her leg is hooked behind the wall so she doesn't fall in.

Then, as one, the mamushi rise in a writhing mass of vengeance. They hiss like the devil and spit poison. Some splashes onto the wall next to her head, smoking.

Haruhi pulls Sasuke into her arms.

Anko's snakes poof out of existence and Haruhi jumps backwards, Sasuke cradled in her arms as Anko roars in outrage.

"Fireball jutsu!"

Flames erupt from her lips, roasting the snakes to death.

The crackling of burning reptile is the only sound, along with their panting. Haruhi's heart pounds in her hear as she checks Sasuke for bite wounds. She finds week old wounds and dried blood instead.

Week old wounds.

God, how long had they been here?

Sasuke mumbled something into her ear.

"What?" She croaks.

"...I didn't give in." He mumbles. Despite all his wounds, his obvious hunger and pain, Sasuke sounds happy.

"Yeah. You were really, _really_ brave Sasuke. I'm _so_ proud of you." Her voice is gravelly from tears.

Anko's eyes scanned Sasuke's shoulders for a curse mark, and finds them bare.

Haruhi feels him smile into her shoulder, and she lets out a shaky breath as she tries not to cry harder. She doesn't want to scare him even more.

She turns him over in her arms and presses the water bottle to his lips. He drinks a few small sips, sighing in relief.

"Got big." He says. His hand is wrapped around her wrist.

Haruhi sniffles, letting out a short snort of amusement.

"Yeah."

He blinks, obviously out of it, and nuzzles his face into her palm.

"This is touching in all, but we need to go." Anko speaks. Her eyes are shifting to the empty passageway.

Haruhi uses her free hand to jam the dead nin's shoes onto her feet. With Anko leading and Haruhi carrying Sasuke, they stalk down the halls where the yelling echoes off the walls.

One way or another, they are getting out of here.

* * *

 **So...**

 **A lot happened here. Some questions have been answered, but even more have been raised. Who are the invaders? Is it the genin? The team Danzo says he sent? How did Kabuto swipe the seal from the Hokage's personal library? How will the genin react when they hear that? Who is doing the shouting?**

 **And many, many more.**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you thing of Haruhi being human sized now?**


	43. The Great Escape

Haruhi's bruised legs trembled as she carried Sasuke, shuffling along behind Anko, who was holding a kunai defensively in front of her. The only sound was the thuds of the sandal Haruhi wore, her labored breath, and the distant sounds of fighting.

Sasuke had yet to stir again, head lolling against her chest, tiny puffs of breath landing gently on her jawline every time he exhaled. It looked like Orochimaru had tried to convince him the hard way after Sasuke initially refused. Haruhi wonders briefly why he didn't use the curse seal on Sasuke. Maybe he thought he'd have more time, instead of rushing like he did originally.

Haruhi shifted Sasuke in her arms, mindful of the lacerations and bruises criss-crossing her body from Kabuto's grip and experiments. Her eyes flickered to the sparse torches decorating the walls, and the cracked crumbly looked at questionable stains in the stone, and felt a shiver rattle her.

She wondered what her own cell looked like.

" _SHHH!"_ Anko hissed, slashing her kunai through the air. Haruhi froze, even stopped breathing as she watched Anko's tense shoulders.

"Duck!"

Haruhi fell to her aching knees, covering Sasuke's prone body with her own as metal whistled over her head.

She whimpered, her brown furrowing.

Were those...bells?

Her eyes widened and she covered Sasuke's ears just as the sound wave hit her with the force of a bomb.

She shrieked, but she couldn't hear it. Her eyes watered from pain and her eardrums felt like they were being grinded against a cheese grater. She cried in pain and terror, shoulder pressing into the ground.

Gritting her teeth, Haruhi stood up and with her spare hand, ripped the Senbon from the wall, snapping the strings attached them to Kin with the kunai she had pilfered from the dead enemy nin.

The faint sound of scuffling ahead was hard to make out over the ringing in her ears but Haruhi looked up anyway. She wasn't able to make out much will all the dirt on her glasses, but she could see Kin and Anko fighting.

Haruhi frowned.

Kin was skilled in all, but Anko was a special jounin, trained by a sannin. The only reason she wasn't ranked higher was because of the biases against her for being Orochimaru's student.

Standing up, Haruhi shifted Sasuke over her shoulders, senbon with bells gripped in her hands.

"-himaru-sama wants you dead! I won't fail him this time!" Kin sounded frantic. Her long black hair was falling out and frayed. Dirt and blood was splattered over her at random intervals, and her eyes were that of a cornered animal. It looked like she had been punished for some perceived failure. Maybe for being caught before the beginning of the chunin exams?

Haruhi felt her stomach sink. If Kin, this 15 year old child the same age as Haku had gotten hurt, it would be, indirectly, because of her, as she had convinced kakashi to increase security at the exams.

Anko snarled, grabbing the girls senbon from her hands.

"Orochimaru doesn't give a shit about you! You are disposable, and he will get rid of you, regardless of whether you fail or not!" Anko shouted.

Shut up!" Kin roared.

Anko's snake summons rushed forward, unaffected by the bell soundwave, and knocked Kin off her feet. Already weak from hunger and the punishments didn't get up again.

Anko lifted her kunai over Kin's prone body and Haruhi sucked in a breath, about to scream at her to stop, when Anko hesitates.

The kunai she is holding trembles, and her free hand clenched into a fist. Snarling, she lowers the kunai.

"Lets go." She calls over to Haruhi. Her voice is strained, and Haruhi feels worry for Anko eat at her as she gather's Sasuke up in her arms again.

Kin groans as they walk past, and pushes herself up to a half sitting position with shaky arms. Cold fingers wrap around Haruhi's ankles and she swallows back a scream, jumping away from the skeletal fingers. In the torch light, Kins starved appearance is made all the worse, cheeks gaunt, and Haruhi's heart twists in pity. She holds Sasuke a little bit closer.

"No.." Kin croaks, "L-Lord Orochimaru says I need too…"

Anko stops, they turns abruptly on her heel so she is now striding back towards Kin.

Kin flinches, but Anko sinks down to her knees, arms hovering uncertainty, like she wants to offer Kin comfort but isn't sure how to. Anko settles on rubbing her face with on hand, the other coming to rest on her leg.

"Look, kid…"Anko begins, licking her lips, "He's lying to you."

Kin growls, but it is a weak thing.

"Lord Orochimaru said-"

" _He's lying to you!"_

Kin shakes her head, dirt now on her face from the floor.

"Who are you to lecture me?" Kin croaks. "Lord Orochimaru was there for me when no one else was! He-he gave me food, a-and a purpose! He kept me safe!"

"You don't look too safe to me." Anko points out.

Kin flinches.

" _My fault. I messed up."_ Kin rasped.

Anko shakes her head.

"So what if you messed up! You didn't deserve to be treated like that!' Haruhi blurted.

Kin looked at her.

"What do you know, you're just a civvie!" She spat.

Haruhi bristled.

"It's because I'm a civilian that I know the way you have been treated and used is _wrong_." Haruhi stressed.

Anko nodded.

Kin saw her agreeing and snarled.

"And what the hell do you know either! You don't know why I'm here! You don't know me, who I am!" Kin shouted, voice rising in pitch.

"..."

Haruhi watch Anko intensely.

She swallows heavily.

"...It starts with a girl." Anko begins, voice low and urgent, "She is talented, but ultimately, no one. She has no friends, or family, and is scorned for just being."

Kin blinks in shock but Anko continues.

"She is desperate to be somebody, for someone to see her, praise and acknowledge her, and when somebody finally does, she doesn't question it. She is starving for attention, and that makes her easy prey." Anko whispered, eyes glittering.

"She loves this man, because he gave her food, and he said she was worth something."

Kin looked at Anko with wide, disbelieving eyes, but Anko wasn't done yet.

"But what he didn't tell her was that the something she was worth was very, _very little_. A fingernail clipping."

Kin twitches.

"One day, this girl, slips up. So much is happening around her, and none of it makes sense, but all she cares about it making sure the man who acknowledges her continues too. So when he discards her, calls her a failure, beats her, she finally realizes nothing she ever did even _mattered_ to him. She was just a tool, he never really saw her, he was _just like everyone else_ -"

"SHUT UP!"

" _-_ I know who you are girl _-"_

" _-I said shut up!-"_

" _ **-Because you're me**_ _!"_ Anko roared.

"..."

Kin gritted her teeth, tears falling down her face and causing dark spots to appear on the stone.

Anko stood, guiding Haruhi and Sasuke in front of her. Haruhi threw one last look back at Kin, before shifting Sasuke in her arms and walking forward.

They continued forward, the sounds of clashing metal and shouting getting louder with each step. Haruhi thought she could make out the sound of a dog growling.

And then;

" _Kukukukuku~"_

Anko froze as if she had been hit with one of Haku's ice jutsu, and a cold sweat broke over Haruhi. Her mind flashed back to her cell, Orochimaru standing over her and cold reptile eyes looking at her like a particular interesting specimen.

They had reached the end of the hideout, and the smell of tree sap and dirt tickled Haruhi's nose.

They peaked over the corner of the stone and Haruhi froze.

Why in the seven gates of hell were the kids here!?

Anko, she could understand but Choji!? Kiba!? Sakura and Naruto!? And was that Tenten, Neji and Rock Lee!? Hell, even Shino and Karin!? Kunai wouldn't work on this guy!

Anko pushed Haruhi behind the wall but not before she saw Orochimaru attack Gaara( _Gaara!?)_ and put on the five pronged seal that had, once upon a time, gone onto Naruto's seal.

Haruhi heard Temari scream.

Anko had jumped in now, countering Orochimaru's summons with her own. Haruhi could catch only snippets of the actual fighting, but when Orochimaru aimed to kill Sakura, who was helping Neji up after being knocked down, she had flown into an even greater rage than before.

"Don't you touch her!" Anko snarled, landing a hit on Orochimaru's cheek.

Haruhi stayed back, desperately trying to awaken Sasuke.

"C'mon C'mon," She mumbled, as Kiba's yells of outrage reached her ears. She patted this face frantically, but his only response was to turn his head towards her shoulder.

"Sasuke sweetie, I know you're tired, and I am too, but I can't carry you for much longer and we need to go." Haruhi begged. Anko could only hold Orochimaru off for so much longer.

His eyelashes fluttered, then opened all the way.

"...Haruhi-sensei?"

She grinned.

"The one and only. C'mon, I'll help you walk, but we need to go."

He blinked, vision sharpening as he sat up from where Haruhi had laid him on the ground.

"Orochimaru is distracted for now, so we-"

"Harushi-sensei!" Two voice shouted.

They turned to look, and saw Sakura and Naruto. They were covered in various injuries, clothes torn and mussed up. Their mouths had dropped open in shock as they took in her now regular sized body.

"I know, I'm large, but now is not the time though." Haruhi said, helping Sasuke up.

Sniffling was her only warning as Sakura's arms wrapped around her waist, training weights taken off. Naruto went to hug Sasuke, who briefly returned it before his attention was taken by the battle.

Haruhi hugged Sakura back as she cried. She smelled the sweat on her skin and her spring-like shampoo. Haruhi didn't want to know what she smelled like.

"LOOK OUT!" Anko shouted.

Haruhi looked up and flinched, prepared to die as Orochimaru hurled her way, sword out in front of him.

"NO!"

Her ears protested, still ringing from earlier. The harsh grinding of metal on metal reached her and she looked up to an awe inspiring sight.

Temari stood in front of them, battle fan having cut Orochimaru's sword in half. Her posture was tall and strong, battle fan at the ready, face curled into a sneer-snarl hybrid.

Orochimaru scowled, Hair ruffled and blood dripping from his cheek, courtesy of Anko.

"Oh? And who is this?" He rasped, trying to regain control of his temperament.

Temari smirked poisonously, as if to say ' _you know damn well who I am'._

"I am Temari of the sand, You killed my father, sabotaged my country and hurt my little brothers. Prepare to die."

She swung her fan, hurricane force winds emitting from the swipe and blowing Orochimaru backwards.

And then something so insane happened that Haruhi had to take off her glasses, clean them, and put them back on.

All the discarded metal rose up as one. Kin's senbon, the kids kunai, the sword bits, Shuriken, and any type of weapon you could think of hovered in the air and congregated around Temari like it was being moved with thought and intention.

Haruhi blinked.

Her mouth fell open.

It looked like how Gaara controlled sand.

"Temari…" Kankuro spoke, voice soft with awe as he cradled Gaara. "You have the bloodline limit too?"

Temari breathed heavily, sharp eyes tracking Orochimaru, but she didn't contradict him.

She took a huge breathe, then flung her hands forward.

The metal rushed to comply with her wishes, sharps bits of poisoned deadly weaponry flinging itself forward and towards Orochimaru with zeal.

His shouts of rage and fear were quickly drown out by the sound of knives slashing through the air and Anko's words.

"Get on!" She shouted to Haruhi, summoning giant quick moving snake and jumping onto its head.

Not about to argue with the woman who saved her life, Haruhi jumped on along with the other kids. Temari Hauled Kankuro and Gaara onto her fan, and they bolted as quickly as the could, Shino throwing some of his bugs back to keep the menace occupied and Naruto creating diversionary shadow clones as false trails. Karin shouted where Orochimaru was and how to avoid his goons as they whipped through the forest.

Wind whistling through her hair, Naruto pressing his cheek between her shoulder blades and the back of Sasuke's head resting under her chin, Haruhi allowed herself to let out a long, loud, scream.

Just what the hell had her life become?

* * *

 **Oh Haruhi, it only gets worse from there.**

 **Question of the chapter: How do you think the Orochimaru Arc was a turning point for the story?**


	44. Out Of The Frying Pan

At first, Haruhi couldn't comprehend what was going on. While the water and the food the mysterious person had given her had helped clear away most of the fogginess, her head still felt stuffed up, and she had to consciously keep herself upright on the getaway snake.

When they had crash landed at the gates of Konoha, and the snake had poofed into a cloud from the damage it had sustained, Haruhi fell right on to her ass, Sasuke landing on her stomach and Naruto on her legs. She was trying to get up when someone grabbed her roughly by the bicep. She recognized the squeaking of Konoha issued ANBU gloves from Kakashi.

"What are you doing?" Haruhi croaked in alarm.

The said nothing, only grabbing hard enough to leave a bruise, dragging her along.

She yelped, the borrowed shoes being shorn off by the hard packed ground.

"Stop, that hurts!"

They didn't listen to her. Haruhi's eyes widened in fear as she realized something. Last she heard from Orochimaru's boasting down in the dungeon, The third Hokage had sustained near fatal wounds.

And even though she hated The third for all the shit he pulled, especially with the Uchiha, he was preferable over mother fucking _Danzo_.

She looked over at the root agent dragging her through the gates and began to struggle.

He jerked her forward and she fell heavily to her knees, moaning in pain. Behind her, haruhi heard the struggles of what sounded like Sakura, Tenten, and Karin.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she realized they were dragging the civilian born and clanless kids away and leaving the rest.

"You bastard, let them go!" She screamed shrilly, kicking out at the root member.

She kept screaming as he swept her legs out from under, her tossing her over his shoulder and then jumping so fast the air was snatched from Haruhi's throat.

In a journey that could have been a few seconds or a few minutes, They arrived at some shady dank cellblock. She was tossed unceremoniously into one of the cells and before she could blink, the bars slid shut.

Haruhi jumped as she heard the sounds of fighting and she struggled to her feet as she saw more root members throw the three girls into their cells.

The flames flickered briefly in the torch before the Root members were gone, as quickly as they came.

Karin was crying, and Sakura was clutching a spot where a Root agent deadened the nerve to keep her from struggling. Tenten sat up from where she was thrown, teeth grinding together in anger.

Taking a few minutes to catch her breath, Haruhi allowed a bitter smirk to curl over her face as she digested the irony of escaping a cell only to end up in another one.

"Why are we here?" Sakura asked Tenten. Haruhi noticed how the two of them has formed a mentor student relationship. It warmed her heart to see the two of them finding common ground and helping each other.

Tenten turned from reassuring Karin who was in the cell next to hers, frowning.

"I don't know.".

"But why are we here and no one else is-oh." Sakura cut herself as she realized why, bewildered expressing twisting into a scowl.

"Yeah. Oh."

They sat in silence, Karin wiping her face and sending a meek smile in response to Haruhi's hopefully reassuring one.

"Thank you guys for coming for me and Sasuke."

Sakura blinked, before grinning despite the current conditions.

"Of course."

Karin nodded in agreement, and it could have just been Haruhi's imagination, but she could have sworn for a second Sakura was glaring at her. Why was there tension between the two of them? Tenten seemed fine with Karin. Haruhi's brow furrowed as she considered it. That was something they would talk about later.

"So what's been happening while I was gone?"

Sakura immediately launched into an explanation, relieved to be talking about something, anything, to ignore the elephant in the room. Or the prison block in this case.

Haruhi became more and more horrified as Sakura talked.

"-Well, they had us hunting stray creatures from the forest of death that had gotten loose when Orochimaru escaped-"

Konoha sent genin after those creatures?! She knew Konoha was short staffed after the downfall of the Uchiha, the third war, and Orochimaru's rampage but holy hell. Most of those creatures would give jounin a hard time! Genin were never supposed to interact with them for more than the second part of the exams!

"-We were also sent on patrols and things like that because with the wreckage the crime rate has gone up to being ever higher that before, so we were supposed to be pseudo-police, since they never got around to reinstating the force."

"What do you mean by higher than before?" Haruhi frowned.

Sakura and Tenten exchanged meaningful glances. Karin and Haruhi exchanged confused ones.

"You remember how Sasuke talked about the Uchiha being the police force? And the ninetails attack?"

Haruhi nodded.

After the ninetails and the economic slump from the end of the third war-since Konoha wasn't getting significant funds from the daimyo anymore-A lot of people were left homeless and starving. There was also a huge wave of immigrants to Konoha to seek refuge from the third war and this led to a huge crime rate because nobody wanted to give them jobs."

Haruhi listened intently.

"The Uchiha kept it in check, but then they were...well.."

'Killed in a genocide by the corrupt government after the decades of oppression and discrimination became too much' Haruhi finished in her mind.

"After that, things just got worse. The crime rate spiked and the ANBU couldn't do much about it because it wasn't what they were meant for. And the mission intake slowled to a halt. After all, if Konoha's strongest clan got slaughtered in one night, what did that mean about the rest of us?"

Haruhi nodded absentmindedly, mind whirling.

From what she had seen Konoha's economy had never been great, and with Sakura's infodump this made a ton of sense.

Sakura continued.

"And then because of the lack of police, a lot of merchants and tourists didn't feel comfortable coming here. I remember my mom talking about it because it was bad for business. So we took massive hits that we were only just recovering from. Now, with the damages from the exams to pay for and the fact that one of our most famous missing nin attacked and incapacitated the hokage in the heart of fire country has made us look incredibly weak. It's gonna be bad for awhile. "

So Konoha murdered the Uchiha to benefit Konoha but it sounded like it just caused more problems. But then again, it was never really about the village. It was more about Danzo serving his own selfish needs. Protecting Konoha was just a thin blanket to cover his thirsting for power and an excuse to justify the following genocide.

Haruhi had to admit, the village did a _great_ job of fucking itself over. Orochimaru would be proud.

Hell, all he had to do was stand back and watch the carnage.

"What about Kakashi?" Haruhi suddenly blurted.

Sakura gave her a soft and knowing look, and Haruhi kept her chin high, refusing to acknowledge the warmth on her face.

"He's been...busy."

What, to busy to rescue her? Was something else more important? What happened to the never leave your friends behind shtick?

Haruhi blinked in shock. She hadn't known she felt like that until those thoughts had crossed her mind.

"What do you mean by busy?"

"Kakashi-sensei is one of the most recognizable ninja in the elemental nations, and one of Konoha's strongest. They want him in public as much as possible to boost morale, and because they need him here in case of another attack."

That...made sense. Some of Haruhi's hurt was soothed as she rationalizes Kakashi's absence.

Kakashi would also want to stay to keep and eye on Danzo, to make sure he didn't do anything to the apparently catatonic Third Hokage. He had tried to assassinate him before after all. And if he left against orders, he could very well likely be accused of treason, which was punishable by death.

Now that she thought about it, Danzo was probably looking for an excuse to get rid of kakashi, one of the only people in the village who posed a threat to him. Leaving would give Danzo the very excuse he needed to eliminate Kakashi, just like the Uchiha.

Shifting on her knees, Haruhi twitched as she felt a weird shiver pass over her.

"Did you guys feel that?" She asked.

"What?" Tenten said sharply.

Karin said nothing, looking around for an invisible assailant.

"Sakura?"

She was obviously deep in thought.

"Pig!?" Sakura whispered in shock.

Haruhi, knowing it was Sakura's pet name for Ino, looked up sharply.

She felt it again, like someone was brushing against her mind, and then;

" _You guys are alright!"_

Haruhi was too surprised to respond. Logically, she knew Ino could do this, but knowing and experiencing were two different things.

" _Ino! What's going on out there?"_

" _We didn't get much of an explanation after we were thrown in here."_ Tenten added.

 _We really didn't. Is Sasuke alright?"_ Karin asked.

" _Yeah, he's fine, everyone else is too, they're being treated right now-"_

Haruhi pointedly looked at the four of them in their states of various injures and quirked her eyebrows.

" _But really! You should be worried about yourselves!"_

" _Why?"_

Ino paused and Haruhi felt her anxiety spike.

" _Y-you really don't know...O-okay, okay."_

" _What?"_

" _I don't know how serious you guys are taking this, but there has been a lot of talk about you. Danzo-sama is acting as temporary Hokage and he wants to make the village look strong. To make an example out of someone, and those someone's are you."_

" _What does that mean?"_ Karin mentally wailed.

" _You four have been accused of treason, and the minute those cell doors open, you're all going on trial!"_

The cell doors grinded open, four ominous Root members shrouded in darkness, and Haruhi began to pray.

* * *

 **Konoha just keeps on getting better and better.**

 **Question of the chapter: How do you feel about Konoha now that you've read this far?**


	45. And Into The Oven

Haruhi staggered along, one of the agents gripping her by the arm. She was surprised to find that their hold wasn't bruising like before.

Her neck stiffened when she heard the sounds of the other cells screeching open, and bit her lip as the girls growled at the agents. Haruhi's pulse flickered in panic, and her carefully measured breaths started to come out in short bursts of anxiety. She felt like she was trying to climb Mount Everest while breathing through a straw.

She was seconds away from a full blown panic attack when the agent whispered in her ear.

" _Everything is going to be okay. He's working right now for all of your safeties."_

Haruhi could tell it was a man just from the tone and deepness of the voice. It was soothing and comforting, and she found herself believing him even with the mask he was wearing.

They marched on, Haruhi's eyes taking in the halls and paths of the inside of the Hokage tower. She sees the place they usually go to accept missions and notices Sakura shudder out of the corner of her eye as one male chunin gives her a particularly long sneer.

Haruhi shifts, catching the chunins attention so he isn't looking at Sakura, and gives him a particularly crude shinobi gesture taught to her by Kakashi. She felt the other agents eyes dig into her back, but it was worth it to see the chunins expression curl like he bit into a lemon.

The high from that is quick to evaporate as they come across a set of double doors.

They creak open.

Haruhi wonders why they are so loud before she realizes it's probably to set whoever is coming in on edge.

Her teeth chatter as she steps in the cold room, still wearing the thin and ratty prison clothes from Orochimaru. Her bare feet are cold against the floor. The room's temperature is at least ten degrees lower, tailored to set the persons on trial on edge, so they shiver and cower before the judges.

Haruhi snorts.

Judges.

That implies that this is a fair trial.

Even without Danzo and his cronies at the helm, this would still be all a farce. A military dictatorship would never have a fair trial for someone. Even regular democracies with trial by peers had unfair trials, with a jury of white men deciding what was best for women and black people like her.

The derision and superiority oozing from the council of elders was not unfamiliar to her.

But Haruhi was born and raised by a mother tough as nails, and a father who taught her to love herself before his passing. She was born in a world that hated her because of her skin, her gender, and her sexuality. These shriveled up fascist raisins amounted to little more than dog shit in the face of that.

Haruhi squared her shoulders and looked Danzo dead in the eye.

She would not cower.

There was a flickering as someone adjusted a mic stand that looked like it was from the 1960's, and then Danzo spoke.

"Sakura Haruno, Karin Uzumaki, Tenten, and...Haruhi." The weird infliction of her name had every single one of her alarm bells ringing.

"You are all here on charges of treason, punishable by death, and are to be sentenced after a brief hearing."

The room became a few degrees colder. Karin whimpered, and Tenten pulled them closer to herself. Haruhi clenched her jaw.

Danzo opened his trap again only for the door they came through to be slammed open. Anko, being escorted by two root agents, walked in, clearly under threat. Her wounds were fresh, and she was still wearing the same clothes from the hideout.

"Ah, Anko. So glad you could join us." Said another elder dryly. Her faint purple hair was pulled back by chopsticks.

Anko snarled.

"So Anko, do you have anything to say for yourself? Running off with the genin to Orochimaru's hideout without informing the council?"

The elders words were barbed, thick with a barely hidden meaning. Haruhi knew they were accusing her of cuddling up to Orochimaru.

"It's not like I had much time. I needed to get to them immediately."

"Couldn't you have sent a summon with a message?"

"Again, I didn't have time or chakra to waste, and a snake summon wouldn't have been very well received, given the fact snake summons wrecked much of the village and the walls." The elder fell silent, Anko's words boxing her into a corner.

"That still does not change the fact you pursued the genin who went against village orders and their missions. We will be calling a witness up to the stand."

And Lo, the asshat Haruhi had insulted in the hallway entered the room, coming to a halt in front of a podium.

He cleared his throat in a motion that made Haruhi want to nut shot him.

"Firstly I would like to, ah, thank the esteemed Village elders for having me." He sniveled in an oily voice.

Haruhi saw Anko bare her teeth.

"As for what I witnessed, it was yesterday at the mission desk. I was handing out specific missions to the genin most compatible with them. Due to the financial situation, I had to assign a...special mission to Sakura."

Haruhi didn't like the sound of that.

"To my suprise, or maybe not, given her background, Sakura met it with resistance. I informed her of the repercussions if she declined. Then Anko stepped in. She proceeded to threaten me, a treasonous in and of itself on top of defending Sakura's own treasonous actions, and her connections to Orochimaru. I had no choice but to drop it."

His words echoed pointedly in the cavernous room. Haruhi noticed how the judges chairs were towering above them, and how the room was designed in every way to make you feel small, ceiling arching dozens of feet over them.

If Konoha made half the effort they put into making this room intimidating into caring for one another they would have no fucking need for child soldiers.

Anko exploded.

"I just fucking love how you pointedly ignore the fact that you assigned Sakura a _sex work mission_!"

Haruhi froze.

What.

She saw Sakura cower in the corner of her eyes and Karin move to cover some of the bite marks on her, looking at the Konoha emblem on the wall like she had seen a ghost.

"What the hell are we, Kiri!? We dropped those missions years ago, and even when we had them we never sent children! You piece of shit-"

"-Sakura is not a child. She is a shinobi-"

Haruhi snapped.

"- _That is such bullshit."_

"..."

Haruhi's blood pounded in her ears and it took a minute for her to realize everyone was now staring at her. The agent-Yamato she guessed-behind her squeezed her arm, not as a threat but telling her to calm down.

Well, maybe Haruhi didn't feel like calming down.

"Twelve. She is a twelve year old. I don't give a fuck that she graduated at the top of the class, o-or that she's considered a legal adult."

".."

Haruhi licked her lips.

"And as such, these two noble clans have come together as one, unified under the banner of Konohagakure, and the goal that no children will ever again have to live and die in peril, suffering and torment. Konoha wil instead be a safe haven, a place of peace sheltered by the trees for all those who wish to seek happiness, comfort, and shelter."

Anko stared at her like she had never quite seen her before.

"...What the fuck happened to that?" Haruhi's voice cracked, despair and pain evident.

"That was a direct quote from the treaty signed by the Uchiha and Senju when founding this village. You would know that though, as The first hokage was your teacher. It's sad to see that you have forgotten his teachings."

She continued.

"People moved to Konoha, loved Konoha, and Konoha grew strong all because it nourished and cared for its children. Children like Hashirama-sama's younger brother, who unfortunately died at the age of twelve before the village was founded. The same age as the genin here."

She drew in a deep, shuddering breath.

"What the fuck has happened to Konoha? The economy is in shambles. Shinobi and civilians, adults and children, live in fear. They are hungry. The third war, the refugees, The Hyuga affair, the massacre, the crime rates, and now this. Now more than ever Konoha needs its youth to survive, and now you have them on trial!?"

Her voice echoes, her incredulity obvious.

"What have they ever done wrong, except try to live and abide by that treaty signed long ago, the treaty which Konoha planted its roots in to grow? Nothing. Is it so wrong of them to try and rescue their friends? And a civilian who can't fight back?"

Haruhi's eyes hardened.

"No. No its not. Konoha was founded on cooperation, and the idea that no one should be left behind."

Her final words resound through the room, the chamber ricocheting them like bullets.

The third elder cleared his throat.

"...be that as it may, this insubordination has made Konoha appear weak-"

The other elders uncaring words enraged her.

"Appear weak!? Did you listen to a word I've said!? Konoha gained its strength from its care! Konoha wasn't founded by the clans slapping the shit out of each other, but them working together! Do you really think executing three genin, one the best weapons mistress in generations, the other the top of her class and a upcoming star in the medical field, and the third a girl with direct blood ties to the senju will make you appear strong!?"

The sheer disbelief radiated off of her piercing words.

"God, It's like punching yourselves in the face! Executing these girls and going against Konoha's founding ideals will do nothing but prove how weak, traitorous, shriveled, and _pathetic_ you three and the rest of Konoha have become!" Haruhi screamed.

"..."

Yamato was trying to calm her down, hand rubbing small circles into her back but Haruhi was so not here for it.

Danzo seemed to loom over her.

"Excuse me." He said softly.

Haruhi snorts through her heavy breathing.

"You're not excused." She snarls.

The room, if possible, becomes even colder. Haruhi realizes it's killing intent.

"Be quiet, Girl, or you will be held in contempt of this court." Koharu says icily.

Haruhi snorts, and spits on the ground in front of them.

"I have nothing _but_ contempt for this court."

Danzo loomed.

"The girls will be sent to do missions. Anything that chunin-san over here feels is necessary." Danzo growls. "Executing these three would be a waste."

The two other elders lean back.

"But Danzo-sama-"

"-Are you sure we should allow them to live?"

He slammed his cane, and that was that.

"However…"

He stared her down, but Haruhi didn't blink.

"You are a different matter entirely."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow. Now that the girls were out of the woods Haruhi didn't give a fuck.

"You are charged with treason-"

"-Yeaahhhh, I'm gonna have to stop you there. The definition of treason is going against one's country, and while I am under the protection of one of Konoha's strongest and most well known ninja, I'm not a citizen. Making it impossible to charge me with treason."

Danzo's face was stone, but she saw that son of a bitch chunin blink in shock.

"Nice try though!" She said patronizingly.

His killing intent was suffocating.

"Take her to the execution block. She will be executed publicly as an enemy of the state."

Haruhi's smug smirk froze on her face.

The second agent inclined their head towards the other girls and Anko.

"They can go. For now."

The agent rudely shoved Yamato aside and grabbed her arm in a bruising grip.

"Wait-"

"-Haruhi-sensei-"

"-No, stop!-"

"-You can't do this-"

The girls were dragged from the room.

Haruhi stood frozen, heart somehow scared still and pounding at the same time.

"Your words and opinions will not be tolerated here." Danzo snarled. Haruhi's eyes found his wrapped arm and covered eye.

Her feet gave way under her, but the root agent didn't let her go, and dragged her over the wooden floor, scraping the skin off her legs. She began to writhe and kick, whimpering.

" _STOP!"_

The doors slammed back open and Haruhi stilled. She knew that voice.

Chest filled to bursting with hope, She looked up to see Kakashi.

His chest heaved with his gasps for air, having obviously run here at full speed. His hair was disheveled, and clothes wrinkly. His grey eye caught hers and she saw many emotions play out. At first shock, then guilt, and finally, aching relief and fondness that had her heart skip in her chest.

"By order of the third Hokage, you must stop!"

This seemed to shake Danzo, who stood up abruptly.

"The third Hokage is in critical condition, he is not conscious-"

"-And he is right here."

Lord third strode in, still in hospital garments, but clearly speaking and conscious. Haruhi hated him for allowing Danzo to get away with so much, but in that very moment she could have hugged him.

"That is all for now Danzo. You are dismissed."

Danzo floundered for words, before gritting his teeth and striding out of the room, covered by four root agents, one of which had let go of her arm. The other two elders left.

Numbly, she felt Kakashi gather her in his arms. He held her delicately, like she was still five inches tall. She felt the pad of his drift tenderly across her face and realized he was smoothing away her tears.

The Third turned to look at her, and undecipherable expression on his face.

"Kakashi?"

"Yes?"

"Get her out of here."

Her lifted her slowly, bridal style, and cradled her to his chest. His familiar gait and smell comforted her in a way that was indescribable and she buried her face into his neck, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a hug. She wondered what he thought of her now.

"Wait." She croaked.

The third looked at her.

"Where's Sasuke?"

His gaze softened.

"Sasuke is currently resting in the ICU, sharing a room with one Ino Yamakan."

Haruhi sagged in relief, the feeling soothing her aches and pains as much as Kakashi's steady heartbeat as he carried her out of the room and into the hallway.

She inhaled shakily.

"I'm scared."

He held her a little tighter.

"I'm sorry it took so long." He whispered into her hair hoarsely. She felt his lips moving.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sakura's parents clutching their daughter close to them. As she continued to watch, Kizashi stood up and pulled Anko into a hug. Naruto held Karin and sobbed. Team Gai smothered Tenten with affection.

A scene that would have otherwise touched her, but now she was too numb.

"Kakashi, I want to go home." Haruhi hated how childish she sounded, but Kakashi didn't seem to notice.

"I know, Haruhi."

They disappeared in a flurry of leaves to arrive inside the small house she had been living in for the past few months.

As Kakashi helped her change, bandaged her scraped knees and other wounds, and tucked her into his bed, arms wrapped protectively around her, Haruhi closed her eyes.

This wasn't home. But it was the closest thing she had to it.

* * *

 **Haruhi went OOOOFFFFFFFFFFFF.**

 **Wow. Just so many things happened, and were said in this chapters. So many themes and double meanings. I'm interested so see what you guys think about all it.**

 **And Someone left a review last chapter that I felt was extremely** **pertinent to wha Iu am trying to get at about Konoha. So I'll just leave that here...**

"emma chapter 44 . Oct 13

I'm not surprised. But I think its important to remember that Danzo Isn't acting alone, and that many people agree with his actions. If it wasn't danzo doing this, it would have been someone else. It's wrong to blame everything wrong with Konoha on Danzo because he himself is a product of Konohas flawed mindset and system. This is so much bigger than Danzo, and pinning it all on him is a dangerous mistake because it ignores the actual source of the problem, meaning more violence it guaranteed..."

 **I normally don't do that, but emma really hit the nail on the head on what I am trying to get at.**

 **Question of the chapter: What do think about what just happened? What does this mean for Haruhi?**


	46. Pillow Talk

Haruhi lies awake and stares at the ceiling.

She maybe got three hours of rest after Kakashi took her for a quick check up at the hospital, before he just as quickly whisked her back here. She had multiple cuts and abrasions, but no lasting damage.

Yeah, right.

Once, she would have mentally berated him for his paranoia, but now she could only be in complete agreement. Being stalked, kidnapped, held hostage, thrown into two cells, and then dragged away in an attempted state sanctioned murder was not her idea of a good time.

She felt more fragile now than she ever did when she was 5 inches tall, an impressive feat in and of itself, considering how weak and helpless she had felt. But right now she would give almost anything to feel safe and curled up at the bottom of Kakashi's pocket. Small and out of sight.

Kakashi shifts in his sleep, arms coming to wrap around her, and she briefly tenses in fear of a man's touch before relaxing.

It was just Kakashi.

But no matter what she did, she couldn't get the feeling of the ANBU agents cold, hard, bruising grip, and his sharp jerks from her mind. It had been hours since he had last touched her and she still could not stop thinking about it.

She remembered Kabuto and Orochimaru, their amused expressions as she screamed and cried, strapped to the table. They would measure her limbs, before and after. She doesn't want to think about it.

For all that she is cold, Kakashi is warm. His body naturally runs hotter, and she finds it chases away the chill from the cells. She burrows her cold nose into his neck as he tightens his arms around her, fingers twitching against her back.

Haruhi frowns.

It's clear he's having a nightmare.

She knows what that's like.

His reaction to seeing her at her real size had been...interesting. After he had calmed down from his mad dash with lord third, and then bringing her to the hospital and then home, it had finally sunk in for him.

Or maybe not.

It hadn't for her either.

His hand had rested on her tired face for what felt like lifetimes before pulling away. He was quiet and averted his eyes as he went digging for some of his old clothes that would fit her. He brought up a pair of sweatpants and a black long sleeved shirt. His familiar scent almost had her weeping in relief when he helped her put them on, after she washed away the blood and grime in the shower.

After eating a light soup he prepared for her, they went to bed. Kakashi was going to sleep on the couch to give her privacy but she had grabbed his hand and tugged him until he laid next to her. She didn't feel safe without him anymore. Last time she wasn't with him, she was kidnapped.

Kakashi groaned, and Haruhi's brow furrowed. Should she wake him up?

That question quickly became irrelevant when his eye snaps open.

His breathing calms down as his eyes rove over her, taking in her form safe in his arms, real and there, and not some desperate hope.

She moves his head gently into the crook of her neck, and wraps her arms around his back in reassurance. Haruhi makes no sound as she feels tears trickle down her nape, and appreciates it when Kakashi doesn't comment on her own tears.

After awhile, Kakashi spoke in a low whisper.

"Can't sleep?"

"...Not really."

"Can't say I blame you."

Haruhi smiled wryly, absentmindedly petting the back of his head. He all but melts into her, before stiffening up slightly as he adjusted to her new size.

"Yeah, I'm not used to it either."

Kakashi traced a small pattern into her side.

"It's fine, it's just...not what I'm used to."

Her heart sank.

"I know I'm probably not something nice to look at up close-"

"-That's not what I meant. I meant it will get some taking used to, but I'm glad that you'll have some of your independence back. Maybe you'll feel better."

His hopeful tone melted her heart, and she smiled.

They laid there for a few more minutes, ignoring the elephants in the room. Her kidnapping, the things that had happened in the trial room, and so many other things that Haruhi knew she had forgotten about but would come back to bite her later.

She bit her lip

"Kakashi, I…"

"...Its okay."

To her horror, tears welled up in her eyes and she sniffled.

She felt Kakashi pull away from her neck, but she kept her face trained towards the ceiling, ashamed. Guilt, self-hatred, and confusion swirled in her like some molotov cocktail of negative repressed emotions and she grits her teeth.

To say things have gone sideways is an understatement. She had finally worked up the courage to take definitive action and it ended in a clusterfuck.

Kakashi's breath fanned over her face as she stubbornly looked anywhere but him. He brushed her tears away with the pads of his thumbs, pressing his forehead against hers.

She finally looked at him, and immediately glanced away. The aching fondness in his eyes was more than she felt she deserved.

She tried to open her mouth, to tell him no, none of this was okay, and why did he even still help her, but nothing but a short, choked noise came out, and her shoulders began shaking in earnest.

Haruhi desperately tried to stifle her tears, to calm down. She raised her hand to wipe them away, but he gently laced his gloveless fingers with hers.

"It's not okay what happened to you, or what's going on. But it's okay to cry." He whispered into her hair. He didn't seem to notice or care that what he was saying went directly against the ninja code. He knew there were more important things.

Haruhi froze. She heard those words before.

"You are always looking out for everyone else, but never yourself. You seem to carry this burden and refuse to put it down or take a break."

She snorts into his shoulder and he gives an amused, sad huff.

"Yeah, a bit hypocritical, but it's still true."

He sits up, and shifts her into his lap. Her legs hang over his and her back is pressed against his chest. She feels his bare lips against her cheek.

"It's okay to feel bad Haruhi. It took me a long time to realize that, but you aren't less of a person if you do."

Her face crumbles.

"Kakashi you don't g-get it." She had to tell him, or else she'd scream. "I know things. B-beacuse I'm a s-summon. I get extra access to things, and I had some foreknowledge I didn't tell you about. There were things I could have done or c-couldn't have, and I didn't!" She sobs.

Kakashi is quiet, and her nerves scream in anxiety.

He sighs. Its fond, exasperated, and tired all in one.

"Oh Haruhi, I already knew."

She's so surprised she stops crying.

"Huh?"

"Admittedly, I didn't know at first. But you always had this knowing look on your face, and you knew these little things about me and the kids that you probably shouldn't have. I'm not angry at you for keeping that a secret-not at all! Summons are granted the right to their own secrets."

"...Oh."

Oh indeed. Some invisible weight lifts off her shoulders she hadn't even know was there, and suddenly, she can look him in the face again.

His eyes are crinkled in a smile, his sharingan open and spinning gently. His pale pink lips are turned upwards in a small, slightly sad, smile. She take a moment to marvel at his beauty and trust in her before he begins speaking softly.

"I'm beyond touched that you felt you could trust me enough to tell me this, but It's silly to blame yourself. Even though you had foreknowledge, it's impossible to predict what can or will happen. You're not some omnipotent god."

He gently turned her head, shifting her higher in his lap and guiding her cheek plush against his own. His one hand presses flush over her heart, and the other intertwines with hers.

"You're Haruhi, and that's all that matters."

* * *

 **Coming back strong with the Harushi after a dry period.**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you think their relationship will be like going forward?**


	47. This Love Of Mine

Haruhi gazed around blankly as she took in Konoha. This was the first time she was really seeing it since she had been kidnapped, and she had to say, it wasn't pretty.

It was clear that most of the debri had been cleared up, but it took more than brooms to clear away bloodstains. The former gray-tan hard packed roads were now a deep reddish brown with spilt blood. From both the monsters from the forest and the human casualties. Ninja and organized civilians ran around, working double time to clear the rest and rebuild. It surprised Haruhi how efficient they were, but then again, this probably wasn't their first rodeo.

She couldn't help but notice how most of the damage done to ninja sectors and buildings were already fixed while most of the civilian homes were still damaged.

Now that the third Hokage was back on his feet, moral seemed to have skyrocketed. Citizens chattered on the streep, spouted propaganda about Konoha, some bullshit about the will of fire that had Haruhi struggling not to roll her eyes.

While she was thankful to lord third for last minute saving her ass from state execution, it was still a bit hard for her to get over the fact that he allowed and enabled the discrimination and then the subsequent genocide of the Uchiha, and a bunch of other heinous shit that she couldn't name but knew he did, just because it went with being a military dictator.

Kakashi held onto her arm as she walked towards the hospital. He thought he was being sneaky when he watched her out of the corner of his eye, but Haruhi could tell he was worried. It had been almost a week since he saved her and brought her to his house, but Haruhi was still on edge. She couldn't sleep if he wasn't lying next to her, and she wasn't eating well. She was skinnier than she had been in years and couldn't even scrape up enough emotions to care.

They walked into Ino's and Sasuke's hospital rooms. Sasuke was in worse condition than Haruhi and needed to stay longer. But he had a constant stream of visitors. Mebuki had brought him homemade meals, with the rest of the Konoha eleven, plus Haku and Karin visiting him and Ino at all hours.

Haruhi smiled gently as she spotted him in his bed. He was chewing on tomatoes Mebuki had brought earlier. His cuts and bruises had been healed, but they had yet to work out all the poison from his system.

When Sasuke saw her his face lit up like a christmas tree. His slouch straightened out and he gave her a small smile which Haruhi gladly returned.

"Feeling better Sasuke?" Kakashi asked his student.

Sasuke nodded shyly, and Kakashi meandered off to Ino, wanting to give Haruhi some privacy as she talked to Sasuke. Her heart swelled with gratitude and appreciation at his consideration for her.

Sasuke snorted in amusement and she shot him a confused look.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

They were silent for a bit. Haku's laughs reached them from the other side of the room, and Haruhi's heard Kakashi's low voice reassuring Ino that he could help train her once she was out of the hospital. That he knew how to fight with one eye.

The reminder of Ino's injuries stopped her fluttering heart, and she frowned again.

"Sasuke, you alright?

He sent her a Look.

"Right, dumb question. But really though?"

He hesitated, eyes flickering towards Kakashi and the others.

"You know what? Lets get some fresh air. Kakashi!" He looked over at her. "We're gonna take a walk around the hospital, get something to eat. We won't go far."

His eye narrowed with worry, but he hesitant nodded at her reassurance. The last time the two of them had gone off together, they had gotten kidnapped. But the hospital was much better protected against attack, and Kabuto was gone at this point.

Haruhi helped Sasuke up, and she noticed he was wearing some of Naruto's spare clothes. She would have to drop something more comfortable off for him. But as it was, she shrugged off her jacket and put it around a grateful Sasuke's shoulders.

They walked down the halls, which were surprisingly empty. All the staff must be busy. The civilians with two week old injuries were finally trickling in after all the ninja got taken care of first, which rubbed Haruhi the wrong way.

They stopped buy a vending machine, Haruhi pulling out some of the spending money Kakashi gave her, and buying treats for herself and Sasuke. As they sat down on a bench to eat, Sasuke finally spoke.

"Lately...I've been questioning things." He was hesitant with his words, and after Danzo's whole 'Your opinions will not be tolerated here' spiel she couldn't help the aching sympathy she felt.

"Yeah?" She encouraged.

He was silent for a bit, biting his lip. He leaned over and mumbled into her ear.

"I think there's more to the Uchiha massacre than just Itachi snapping and going crazy.

Haruhi froze.

Sasuke took one looked at her face and sighed.

"So there is. What do you know?"

Haruhi blinked rapidly. Kakashi may now know she had more knowledge than she should, but that didn't mean she was safe. People would and in fact, have kill for the information she possessed.

As the silence stretched, Sasuke grew more stressed.

"Is it really that bad?"

Unable to ignore Sasuke any longer, Haruhi nodded.

Sasuke leaned forward and put his face into his hands. Haruhi slung her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into her side.

She leaned down and spoke low and fast.

"Sasuke, this is bigger than you could possibly know. It's a huge giant mess, but one that you can sort through to find the answers. But I am in danger because of the knowledge I possess as a summon. It's part of the reason Orochimaru kidnapped me, and if I relive these things to you, not even Kakashi or the Third could save me."

Sasuke wiped his face.

"O-okay. Okay. Fine. But what can you tell me?"

Haruhi opened her mouth only to be cut off again.

"Don't say anything that could hurt you. I heard what the elders almost did, and I don't want it happening again."

Touched, she hugged him again.

"Alright, I'm gonna give you some advice. Remember how you wanted to be a officer when you were younger, correct?"

Surprised, Sasuke nodded.

"Well, it's time to put those investigative and deductive skills to the test. I know its hard for you, but if you want answers, you're gonna need to go over the Uchiha compound and the former police headquarters with a fine toothed comb."

Sasuke nodded.

"And then I need you to study history. Real history. Not that watered down propaganda laden shit they teach in the academy. You're already going to history classes run by civilians, which is good, but you need to dig for information now. Look at relation between the village and the Uchiha. For example, you ever notice how there's never been a Uchiha Hokage? Every single one has either been a Senju or connected to them in some way."

Sasuke stared at the ground, shaken.

"The patterns and the links are there. The evidence is in the compound. Do you really think Itachi by himself could take on the entire elite police force, then every single civilian, and then you parents, one a hokage candidate plus chief of police and the other an incredibly well respected jounin? No way. I don't care if he was a prodigy, they were too and had decades of experience on him. He had help."

Worked up now, Haruhi's leg bounced in agitation. She craned her neck to make sure no one was listening before ducking her head down again.

"Inconsistencies like that are around everywhere Sasuke! The entire massacre is shady as hell. For example, why didn't your parents fight back? They could have taken Itachi, and there was no way he got the drop on them after all that. And why didn't the village open an investigation? Hundreds of their best people died and yet they did nothing but claim Itachi was insane and clean up the evidence. Why would the village not investigate? Could it be there was something they didn't want found out?"

Sasuke was looking a her now, face rapt with attention as he fought off shock.

"You have allies. Talk to Tenten. She seems to know whats up but it depends on how much she will tell you. Speak with Naruto as well. He knows much about the inner workings of the village. All that sneaking around for pranks had to be good for something after all."

She licked her lips.

"And finally, watch your ass. The village will not hesitate to take you out if you go too far too fast. Be low-key. Take it easy-but take it! I know you can do this."

Sasuke nodded slowly. Haruhi could see the wheels in his mind churning.

She sighed.

"C'mon. Let's go back."

They stood and walked back into the room, Sasuke still looking like he had been hit with a shovel.

"Could you go with me to one of the history sessions tomorrow morning?"

Haruhi looked down at Sasuke. She smiles lopsidedly.

"Yeah, sure. Always wanted to go to one."

She let him keep her jacket and watched as he pressed his face into the faux fur and inhaled. She was glad it comforted him.

Kakashi looked about ready to go as he began walking towards her, but Karin beat him to the punch.

"Um Haruhi-sensei?"

"Yeah?"

"Could I talk to you in the hall?"

Haruhi nodded. She mouthed one minute to Kakashi and gently closed the door behind then.

Karin stood there nervously, wearing long sleeves and pants. Even her hands were covered with gloves, and she flinched away when a nurse accidentally brushed her arm as she walked past.

"Anko-sensei told me about a group thing." Karin blurted.

Haruhi crouched down, making herself smaller.

"A group thing?"

Flustered Karin played with a piece of her hair, much like Haruhi when she was stressed.

"A group thing, where you can talk about...bad things that happened to you."

Oh.

Haruhi looked at the hastily applied makeup to the bites on her neck, skin tone off, and smears evident. Her heart sank.

"Would you, c-could you…"

"Could I…"

"Come with me?"  
Heart in her throat, Haruhi nodded.

"Sure. What time?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. I can pick you up after Sasuke's history lesson."

Haruhi nodded, and opened the door back into the shared room. Sasuke and Naruto were now in deep conversation in the corner of the room, seemingly coming to a conclusion just as Karin walked over to them.

She felt Kakashi slide to her side like he was there the whole time, shoulder bumping against hers, hands in his pockets.

She smiled and bumped his shoulder back.

"Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"I have a busy day tomorrow."

"Ah. Let me know if you need anything."

She smiled softly.

"Will do."

* * *

Koharu Utatane did not get where she was now by being an idiot. She was the sole female student of both the second and first Hokage's, and the only female teammate to the third. She survived two wars and partially led a third. She gave decades of her time to serving the village.

She could sniff out danger to her village faster than an Inuzuka, which was exactly the reason she wanted that Haruhi woman dead.

Danzo simply wanted her dead because she was an inconvenience, an annoying little dog yapping into his ear. Because her death would serve to make him appear stronger.

Koharu was no such simpleton. Despite being a civilian, Haruhi was one of the single most dangerous people in the village. Her proximity to the Uchiha brat, the Ninetails container, and Kakashi Hatake was a very dangerous thing indeed.

If Koharu could go back in time and rip the seal before it was activated, or squashed Haruhi under her thumb like a beetle, she would have.

From one woman to another, she could respect the steel of Haruhi's spine, her sheer grit, and the amber fire in her eyes, but Haruhi's ideals were simply too dangerous.

Konoha thrived on the complete blind obedience of her citizens. In order to function, no one could question Konoha, or make it appear wrong.

Things that have increased tenfold since the appearance of Haruhi.

Can you imagine what a disaster that would be? If the Ninetails container defected? A huge source of military might gone, just because some silly little foreigner couldn't keep her mouth shut. And what if Hatake and the Uchiha did the same thing?

Already, she has poisoned the minds of the next generation, leading them to commit treason. She had become the heart and moral center of the group. They trusted and cared for her. In the case of Kakashi Hatake, they loved her.

And love was a very powerful thing indeed.

It drove the Hatake-brat to revive the Third and go against Danzo's direct authority to save her. Danzo was unable to comprehend why. Emotions never seemed to register for him as they did other people. It had worried Koharu in her youth, and even a little now.

But the brats affections for Haruhi meant that no attempts on her life could come from the village without incurring his wrath, the Uchiha's wrath, and the rest of her allies and friends wraths.

She pursed her lips.

Oh well. Accidents did happen after all.

"Koharu?"

She looked up from her tea, staring at Hiruzen.

He puffed on his pipe, weak trembling hands decorated with liver spots having a hard time holding the pipe steady. Bleary eyes glanced around the room, and then at her. Warm, like a hearth.

Her heart clenched in her chest.

She remembered long nights in her youth, dreaming about Hiruzen. His warmth was something she so desperately needed, in times when bodies so often laid cold on the ground.

She watched as he reached over for some paper work, his sleeve caught in ink. He didn't notice.

She gently grabbed his arm, lifting his sleeve from the ink and helping him take of the soiled clothes.

"Watch yourself love. You'll get your clothes dirty."

He smiled at her, and she felt another crack in her rib cage.

She fell in love with his hazel eyes. His kindness. His everything. Koharu was proud to serve at his side, and even when it tore her heart out, she blessed his marriage with Biwako, and held him when he cried at her death.

"Koharu, could you deliver this to my wife? And perhaps let her know i'll be late again? Another long day at the office."

He chuckled weakly, laugh breaking off into a string of coughs. She didn't bother to correct him about his dead wife. It hadn't worked the first few times and it wouldn't work now.

He always forgot.

He chuckled again at his own joke and the normally dead serious woman smiled. It was a small thing, sad and cold, but still carrying some of the warmth he gave her.

Something that was common knowledge, but a taboo subject, was the inbreeding of clans. This was in order to keep the bloodlines in family, and strengthen them to pass along. However, other things were passed along as well.

The Inuzuka had genetic defects that made their children more likely to perish in childbirth. The Hyuga often developed brain tumors. The Uchiha's inbreeding led to mental instability and passing along mental illnesses like depression and psychotic thoughts.

The Sarutobi clan often developed dementia later in life.

She had spent so long yearning for their stolen youth, before the wars when it was just them, but now she could only be horrified as he regressed right before her very eyes.

It was why she had agreed to let Danzo into office temporarily until the Daimyo came in to confirm him. Why she agreed to have him replaced. No one could work like this. And now with Danzo demoted, there was no one to take his place. He should have been able to live out the rest of his life in peace, but the universe had other ideas. Hiruzen was too far gone. He would not last long, and then Konoha would be without a leader.

She would be without him.

"Koharu?" A concerned voice asked.

She looked up to see him staring at her. A shaky had reached out, smearing ink on her face as it blotted away her tears.

She smiled, cradling his hand in both of hers, holding it to her cheek.

"I'm fine, love." _But_ _you're not._

Pleased, he backed away again, unaware of her heart shattering into a million, little, pieces.

Yes, love was a very dangerous thing indeed.

* * *

 **Um, Happy thanksgiving?**

 **Haha, I was not f*cking kidding when I said every single female character was getting their part. And yeah, this is a slow burn, if you couldn't tell. 150,000 words in and the main pairing has yet to kiss lmao.**

 **question of the chapter: What do you think of the emotions coming into play this chapter?**


	48. The Day Is Young

Haruhi adjusted her shirt one last time, before taking a deep breath and knocking on Sasuke's apartment door. It had taken a lot of energy to convince Kakashi she was fine going by herself, and even now he was probably tailing her. She shifted from side to side, jumping when the door finally opened and Sasuke emerged. Haruhi had gotten to know Sasuke better at this point, and knew that look on his face.

He was planning something.

Choosing not to bring it up, Haruhi ruffled his hair, and they wordlessly began walking towards the meeting. She was vibrating with anticipation. She wanted to hear what these 'real' history lessons were like and how exactly they hadn't mysteriously disappeared yet.

Haruhi hummed uncomfortably as they walked past former scenes of destruction. At this point, even the civilian houses had been repaired. But it still make her shift uneasily at the wanton destruction. More houses were destroyed from Konoha shinobi taking down the escaped creatures than from the actual creatures instead. Jutsu flames had burned down houses, businesses, and communities. The Will of Fire at work.

While Haruhi knew these animals meant business, Haruhi was sure there was some way to take down the hostiles and minimize casualties.

They walked past buildings and Haruhi realized the path she was taking was very familiar. They veered off the main road and to the back

When Sasuke knocked on the door and a woman answered, Haruhi gasped.

"Kasumi?!"

The woman was looking even better than last time, when she had dropped the earnings off to Haruhi at the stand. It was such a difference from the tired woman Haruhi had first seen in the toy shop. She looked invorgated, with a new purpose.

"Haruhi! You're even more beautiful up close! Come in, we have much to discuss."

Haruhi stepped in, making sure to take of her shoes. She noticed the other pairs by the door, counting 5 not including hers and Sasukes.

"How did you meet her?" Haruhi asked Sasuke.

"When she dropped off the money. I got curious and followed her."

Kasumi led them to a bunch of couches and armchairs around a table filled with snacks and paper.

"Hey Sasuke! Hey Haruhi!"

It was Mebuki.

Haruhi gasped and hugged her. The last time Haruhi had seen her was a brief glimpse outside the courtroom, and that felt like ages ago.

"It's so good to see you again." Mebuki gushed, tears in her eyes. Haruhi felt fondness well up inside her as she hugged back.

"How's Sakura?"

"Oh, she doing great! Still going to the hospital and studying."

Haruhi smiled.

"Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Shinko Inari. She's a waitress at the local diner." Mebuki said.

A woman with mousy gray-brown hair waved, with obviously scarred hands. When she said hello, there was a faint but clear accent in her voice. Haruhi wondered what trouble she faced for being a foreigner. There was a strange look on Inari's face when she looked at Sasuke, before it flitted away. Almost like she was seeing a ghost of a reminder.

"This is Nohara Kiki." An elderly woman with purple lines under her cheekbones smiled warmly at Haruhi. Something twinkled in her eyes. Haruhi recognized that last name from somewhere.

"Sasuke has said a lot about you." She spoke warmly.

Sasuke blushed.

"Ayame." She giggled and waved. Her restaurant uniform was under a jacket.

"Do you still like ramen Haruhi?"

Haruhi grinned.

"Sure do."

"And this is Tsubaki. She's a sensei at the academy."

Immediately Haruhi was alarmed. Would she report them?

"No, no! I'm not here to spy." Tsubaki quickly reassured. "I started coming to these meetings because, um, I wanted answers, and no one else could give them to me. And after Mizuki…"

Wait. That Mizuki?

Tsubaki flushed at Haruhi's incredulous face.

"What Mizuki did was wrong, teaming up with Orochimaru. But...I can't stop thinking about what he said. About the way they always treated us as less because we were civilian born. So I came here."

Haruhi flushes at her snap judgement, and nods in understanding.

"Officially we're a group if silly, mostly civilian women who gossip over tea every week. So Konoha leaves us alone." Kasumi explains.

Huh.

Sasuke leads her to a spot on the sofa with a knitted pink blanket. Haruhi lifts it around her shoulders.

Kasumi sits in the middle armchair like the queen she is and clears her throat.

"Alright everybody, It's time for the meeting to commence. To begin, we would all like to say how incredibly grateful we are that Sasuke and Haruhi arrived back safe and sound."

The group chorused their agreement. Inari patted Sasuke's shoulder and Mebuki nudged Haruhi's foot with hers.

"Second, today's topic will be Tobirama. Specifically his ideology and policies and how they contributed to Konoha's isolationism and the idea of ninja's being tools of the state."

The ladies booed. Sasuke 'hned' in agreement. Haruhi got the feeling the second hokage wasn't too popular around these parts and she was excited to find out why.

Kasumi's mouth twitched upwards in agreement before pressing into a thin serious line.

"Now, would anyone like to begin about the history of this ideology?"

Kiki cleared her throat.

"It began after the death of the first hokage, which profoundly affected his brother, the second. Now the hokage, his extreme ideology, not tempered any more by his brother, grew exponentially."

"That's true!" Inari said, "It also exploded during the second ninja war. The propaganda machine known as the Konoha gazette pumped out all these articles about how shark-like Kiri nin were, and the strength of the will of fire. How its flames forged weapons out of people to strike down Konoha's enemies." Her lips twisted into something that was intended to be a smile, but turned into a scowl instead.

"Excellent points, Ladies. Can we shift focus onto the published works on the tool ideology? And how it affected citizens?"

Mebuki spoke.

"Yes. They wrote entire books about how it was more honorable to die for Konoha than to live another day." Her jaw was clenched tight. Clearly, this was personal. "As you all know, my husband retired early. He just couldn't do it anymore. They would send him these books to tell him to kill himself. I threw them all away of course, but I still think he saw them in the trash..."

"..."

"...I had to retire as well." Inari said softly. "Something happened." She shot a quick glance at Sasuke. "We were to escort the Daimyo on one of his visits to Konoha. We were chosen because we had a particularly talented teammate. But we were ambushed." Her hands run over her scars.

Haruhi sighs internally.

So many scars.

"Our teammate died. The talented one advanced. And I was forgotten. I suppose that makes me the lucky one, then. After what happened to the talented teammate."

She pointedly did not look anywhere near Sasuke. Haruhi narrowed her eyes, knowing there was more to it but not being able to put a face to the name.

Kiki spoke.

"I knew a man. A neighbor of mine, who always said hello and never looked down on the Nohora for being a civilian line. His son and my granddaughter were on the same team. He disagreed with the 'Tool' notion as well. He saved his 'disposable' teammates over the mission and was shamed for it. He was ostracised, and then committed suicide in order to regain honor. He left behind a child.

Mebuki whimpered at that, buried her face in her hands.

"I-I keep thinking, w-what if that _was Kizashi_? What if he left me and Sakura?"

Kiki Patted Mebuki shoulder, and Haruhi's eyes widened.

Kiki was talking about _Kakashi._

Oh my god, _Nohara_ Kiki! Those purple lines on her face like Rin's in the picture! Haruhi gazed at Kiki intently, but the elderly woman didn't react. There was a deep sadness in her face. Rounded cheeks that looked so much like Rin's in the picture. Was she thinking about Rin right now?

Kiki bit her trembling lip.

"A-and I just kept thinking, what honor? _What honor!? Where is it?_ Ninja's are not samurai. Ninja's murder for money. Lie, cheat, steal, send children out on sex work missions. They send civilian children out as cannon fodder for the privileged clan kids. Like how they sent out _m-my R_ -"

Mebuki sniffled. Held Kiki's hand.

"That what we thought when we signed up Sakura. But Sakura is a young, pretty girl. It's _dangerous_ to be that. And after the Police force was wiped out-" everyone shot Sasuke a careful look, "-We were scared for her. Men attacked me at work-ninja's, and hurt me very badly. It would have been much worse If Anko had not scared them away. We agreed to send Sakura to the academy, so a-at least she could defend herself when it happened to her."

When.

Not if, but when. And after that shit show with the treason hearing, Haruhi couldn't even fault Mebuki and Kizashi for their views. They were right.

"It's funny, how that tool notion, while it applies to everyone, especially applies to civilian borns." Tsubaki whispered.

Kasumi passed her the tissues, Haruhi snagging one along the way.

"What were Tobirama's views on the Uchiha?"

The room stilled. They all exchanged glances.

"While not very often spoken about, it was clear that Tobirama had...hang-ups, when it came to the Uchiha clan. It was very evident that he held discriminatory views towards them." Kasumi said carefully. This was treading dangerous waters, even for their group.

Sasuke clenched his fists, the desperation for answers clearly in his eyes, but Kasumi did not know the full details, and if she did, knew well enough like Haruhi that it was too dangerous even for them to tell him outright. If he wanted answers he would have to get them himself.

Sasuke realized this too, and after a minute, unclenched his hands.

Tsubaki glanced at the clock.

"We still got some time left. I know a few things about the policies he enacted, if you guys would like to hear?"

They did.

The rest of that afternoon was a surprisingly amusing lecture from Tsubaki about Konoha history, completed with her hengeing into Tobirama and walking around like a crab.

And despite the heavy topic material, Haruhi was sad when the meeting ended.

"Okay Gals-and guy, see you next week! Remember to look up topics for discussion, and that you can visit some of the other cells if need be."

After Haruhi put on her shoes, Mebuki pulled her to the side.

"You know Haruhi, My husband holds group meetings once every two weeks. It's officially a cooking club, but what they do between sauteing is talk about the trauma they suffered. Feel free to stop by if you want."

Haruhi told Mebuki she'd think about it.

And with that, they were off.

Haruhi dropped Sasuke off at his apartment and frowned. She could have sworn to see a flash of orange out of the corner of her eye…

She bumbled on over to Karin's apartment, mind whirling. She learned much from that lesson, but what she gathered most is that she hated Tobirama.

Bitch.

Haruhi rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles, Knocking on Naruto's, Haku's, and Karin's shared apartment.

The day, after all, was young.

* * *

 **So this group talk, how do y'all feel about it?**

 **Oh, and can anyone guess who Inari is? Kiki is an oc.**

 **And question of the chapter: What are the implications about the supposed purities in Konoha discussed here?**


	49. A Stitch And B t(h

**TW: talk of sexual assault.**

* * *

For the second time that day, Haruhi knocked.

Quite cursing from Karin reached Haruhi as she fumbled towards the door. Haruhi smiled, tucking a strand of her kinky hair behind her ear and pushing up her glasses.

She turned when she heard the sound of another person unlocking her front door to see a beautiful but clearly worn down woman. Haruhi smiled at her, noticing her beautifully done makeup. Haruhi also noticed her skimpy clothes under the coat and her smile froze in shock.

The Woman flushed, quickly closing her door behind her before Haruhi could apologize for unintentional gawking.

Haruhi never judged people who had to do sex work for a living. It could be a very cruel world, and people had to eat. It was like the woman who helped Tazuna organize and build the bridge. She used to be a prostitute as well.

Still, it made Haruhi frown, that Naruto, Haku, and Karin were living seconds away from the red light district.

Karin finally made it to the door, covered head to toe in thick fabric. She showed as little skin as possible, hands and even face covered. She quickly tugged Haruhi inside, throwing clothes over her.

"What's with all this?"

"I don't want anyone to recognize us when we go to the meeting."

Haruhi thought for a moment.

"Ahhh. Clever. Hey, where's Naruto and Haku at?"

"Haku spends more time at the hospital than here, and Naruto said he had to do something." Karin said, voice high with nerves.

Haruhi nodded under the scarf.

"Well, lets jet then."

Karin locked the apartment and they were on their way, Haruhi casting one last glance at the neighbors door.

As they walked Haruhi noticed how downtrodden the area was, and what is must have been like for Naruto to grow up here. She noticed how thin and gaunt they were, like the people in Wave. She felt a pang of anger at the third Hokage. He could have done better. He could have taken Naruto in with him, or curbed Danzo, but he didn't. He could have done things to improve the situation here but he didn't.

Haruhi was a firm believer, that if you had the power to help, and you did nothing with it, that was on you. If you allowed bad things to happen when you could do or say otherwise and didn't speak up or even do little acts of resistance, then that was on you.

Karin tugged her along by the barest touches of her fingertips, leading Haruhi down alley's, under tree bridges, across drain pipes, and through the backs of stores and houses.

Haruhi knows this is a big deal, she knew it was, but all this secrecy like in a spy movie really makes it sink in.

It was just like back at Kasumi's house. How they went through great pains to disguise themselves as harmless airhead women talking about the great and glorious Konoha instead of the borderline rebel information cell that they really were.

But this was just a meeting to talk about trauma, not anything treasonous.

Right?

Haruhi knew that there was stigma against mental health here, even worse than back home in america. There were no real mental health services, and while the tool ideology was prominent here, it wasn't the extreme level it was in other villages.

But it was still here.

Oh.

Tools weren't supposed to have feelings, or care how they're used. By going to these meeting and discussing how the honeypot missions hurt them, it shed Konoha in a very bad light. It made them humans instead of tools, something that couldn't be tolerated in a ninja village that depended on the compliance of their "tools".

There was also the rampant sexism in this world. Women were even less safe here than back in america. What If a ninja wanted something from a civilian woman and wouldn't take no for an answer? She would be helpless! Especially now that the police keeping ninja in line were all killed in a genocide.

Haruhi unconsciously tucks her shoulders in. She throws a look over her shoulder.

When they finally make it to the back of a second hand clothing shop, Named Akria's clothing store, Karin knocks on the door, a specific pattern to fast for her to pick up on.

It cracked open an inch, the face of a wary man peeking through.

He blinks.

"Oh! You're the ones Anko sent."

They nodded, and he opened the door just enough for them to sleep through before closing and locking it.

A circular staircase was in front of them, carpeted. The lighting was low, and now that she thought about it, probably intentional.

"Do you want me to go first?" Haruhi asked gently.

Karin gulped, then nodded.

Haruhi ascended the staircase, gloved hand gliding over the worn wooden railing. She stepped into the gently flickering fireplace light, and the soft talking tapered off.

A group of fifteen figures paused, and turned to look at her.

A moment where nobody moves before one of the people stands up and welcomes them.

"Hello! It's always good to see more people, despite the less than pleasant circumstances." It's a woman, who speaks to them warmly, kindness and sadness blended into her voice.

Some of them have their hoods down, sitting in the center, while others are scattered in corners or behind chairs, covered up.

Haruhi nods her head in greeting, watching as two others brought out chairs for them. They had cushions on them, obviously put on to make it more comfortable for the sitters.

Haruhi was touched by their thoughtfulness, and they sat down.

The man from before came in, setting down a scented candle and clearing his throat.

"Alright, hello everyone, for those of you who've been here before, welcome back, and for our first timers, welcome!"

People murmured their greetings.

"I'd going to give a little refresher here for the new and old, just so everyone is clear on the purpose of these groups."

Haruhi nodded. She appreciated the welcome-enough to make them feel wanted, but not enough to overwhelm Karin and scare her off.

"First and foremost, these talks are for us. They are meant for us to vent our frustrations, worries, and troubles, without wondering if someone unsavory could overhear. "

They all shuffled at that. Wouldn't do good for the upper echelons to hear of this.

"We have a grab bag of people here tonight, from all walks of life. Here today are immigrants. Civilians. Shinobi. Some of you are even descended from samurai in the north. And we are all here today to talk about something that happened to us. Regardless of our position in society. This is something that afflicted us all."

Heads bowed.

"Sexual abuse. Sexual assault. Rape. That is why we are all here. Terrible things have been done to us, and not much is being done to prevent it from happening again, or to help the victims. That is why we are here. We may not be able to rebuild the police force from the ground up, but we can lend a shoulder to cry on. We are not as helpless as they want you to think."

Tears trickled down the exposed faces of one of the women, as she nodded in agreement to his words.

"Would anyone like to go first?"

There was a moment of silence, and then the woman with tears on her face spoke;

"I mean...I don't know. I know why I'm here, but at the same time I'm jumping at any shadow that moves. It doesn't seem like it happened to me. It feels like it happened to someone else. Like a crazy fever dream instead of a memory. Something I saw on a late night horror show. But it did. It happened to me, and I don't know what to do about it. What can I do?"

The man, Who must be Akira, sympathetically pushed a box of tissues towards her.

"You're doing something right now, Seiko" He comforted "Unfortunately, what happened to you has happened to too many others as well. But we can help each other. It's very brave of you to speak your feelings."

Seiko nodded, looking more confident.

"It was a shinobi."

The shinobi in the room stiffened. Haruhi's eyebrows raised. She couldn't help but think of Mebuki, and how that group attacked her while she was working on plumbing and electricity for one of her customers.

Seiko swallowed.

"It...was a shinobi. At first, I thought he was kidding. He talked about how much he did for the village-especially in comparison to civilians. He talked about how we..h-how we owe'd him. And then he grabbed me. Started touching and wouldn't take no for an answer. And...there was nothing I could do to shove him off. _Ninja."_ She spat the last world with understandable vitriol, but one of the ninja still flinched.

"Hey!" She spoke up in protest.

"Oh shut up! You ninja are always so sensitive to any little criticism! You think you're so much better than us civilians. You think that civilians are incapable of knowing what "true suffering" Is because we don't kill for a living. You eat the food we grew, picked and prepared. You wear the clothes we made, you live in the houses our carpenters built, you drink the water from the plumbing we put in. And you live off the money from missions requested and paid for by civilians! After the mess with the third war, the Uchiha massacre, the depression, and now Orochimaru, our shop owners are the only thing keeping this village going! Yet you think you're better than all of us because you can slit the most throats!"

"..."

Karin looked around with wide eyes and Haruhi shifted so her bulk was hiding her from view.

"Okay, I think we need to calm down-"

The shinobi started to cry.

Once again the room descended into silence. Shinobi rarely cried.

"...I am not a tool." The shinobi croaked. She had an accent not from here, almost like Inari.

"Nobody said that-"

"You were implying it!"

She wasn't wrong. While Seiko's trauma was valid, her general attack on all shinobi, especially the victims in the room, was incredibly insensitive, and completely disregarded their feelings in a way that reeked of the tool ideology.

"You civilians don't realize exactly what they have us do on sex missions."

Oh.

 _Oh._

"You see, when a civilian is sexually assaulted, it's pretty much universally agreed on to be wrong, or unfair. But for shinobi, Kunoichi especially, sexual abuse is practically a requirement."

"B-but I though the fourth hokage got rid of sex missions!" Seiko said, shocked.

The shinobi snorted wetly.

"Yeah, well they're bringing it back. And when we try to complain about it, we're threatened with treason. We're told that's it's our duty, that we should shut up and take it."

Haruhi gulped, thinking of that one Chunin and what Anko said at the trial.

The shinobi sighed, tilting her head back, and Haruhi almost gasped. Purple hair, and a face she recognized. It was one of Sakura's classmates, Ami. She must have been shunted off to the Genin corps and given all the dirty missions.

Seiko cleared her throat, and held out the tissue box towards Ami as an olive branch.

"Well...that's wrong. I'm sorry it's happening to you guys."

Slowly, Ami took one. Her hesitation showed that not all was well, but that she was willing to reach out.

"God, how old are you?" Another person asked.

Ami shrugged.

"Graduated six months ago."

There were gasps and muttered around the room, but Ami set her jaw and wiped away her tears.

"That scares me." Karin said quietly.

Haruhi shifted, making eye contact with Karin. She nodded, and Haruhi shifted again so the rest of the room could see her.

"When I first moved to Konoha, I thought I was safe. I had family here. People who cared. But then...one of my friends was almost forced onto a sex work mission, and got out of it by the skin of her teeth. When the council was confronted on this they doubled down. And now I don't feel safe here anymore."

Karin concluded bitterly.

"...It's wrong." Ami agreed.

"It is." Said a few others.

"What can we do about it? The honeypot missions? It's not like we can refuse them, not without serious consequences."

That was a tough question, with no real answer. But Haruhi did have another solution.

"I don't know what to do about the honeypot missions, except to try and get a sympathetic desk ninja on your side, but I do have something else in mind."

"Do tell." Encouraged Akira.

"Well, where I'm from, it's called pepper spray. Its very painful when sprayed in the eyes, but mostly not harmful. It can act as an deterrent to an aggressor. A lot of people use it to spray assaulters."

The room perked up.

"It's not too hard to make. You distill peppers in a water solution to get the capsaicin. Milk and vegetable oil can negate the effects too. We then put in a pressurized can that could spray it out quickly. Maybe I could…" Haruhi trailed off.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Seiko said.

Haruhi ducked down, smiling sheepishly. It was doable. Haruhi went through a herbal phase when she was in middle school. That combined with Sakura's, Haku's, and Ino's knowledge on herbs and making medicines of them would be enough to get a pepper concoction. And Kasumi's brother was a engineer right? He built her mini stairs. Maybe he could help design a sprayer.

"Well then," Akira said, "It there anything else we want to talk about?"

"How do you stop feeling dirty?" Karin asked quietly.

"...Well, it's different for everyone. I used to take burning hot showers and scrub my skin so hard blood surfaced. But I cannot underestimate the importance of self care, and setting boundaries. You owe no one anything. They do not have to touch you if you do not want them too. You can wear long clothes in order to cover skin too. Get getup for desert walking so you don't over heat."

"And also, don't be hard on yourself. It's not your fault."

Karin nodded slowly.

They stood up, saying goodbye, and just as Haruhi was following Karin towards the stairs, Ami stopped her.

"You're foreign born?"

Haruhi blinked.

"Yes."

"Well, Me, Inari, and a bunch of others meet every once in a while to talk about our homes and original cultures. I know whats its like, the culture shock and all. Being in a place that's not home. You can come and talk with us if you need to." Ami handed her a little card and Haruhi blinked rapidly, thoughts of home flickering her mind's eye.

"Thanks." She croaked.

Ami smiled, and left.

Haruhi thought on how Ami used to be a bully towards Sakura and was in awe of the amazing young lady she turned out to be.

She and Karin left, but to her surprise, they ended up in the kunoichi had been here once before, with Kurenai and the rest of the girls, but it had been brief. Someone emerged from behind the counter.

"Tsubaki!" Haruhi exclaimed. She had just seen her this morning at Kasumi's.

"Hey Haruhi. I'm manning the store today. You looking around?"

"Do you have makeup?" Karin asked, voice wobbly.

Tsubaki's face immediately turned friendly, but serious.

"We do. Follow me."

They walked to the back of the store, Haruhi frowning as she stared at Tsubaki's back. Just what did they teach girls in Kunoichi classes?

Tsubaki showed Karin the rack of makeup, and demonstrated swatching. She left Karin to pick a shade for herself and walked back to Haruhi.

"You want to talk?"

Haruhi nodded.

"What exactly do you teach girls in Kunoichi classes?"

Before Haruhi's very eyes, Tsubaki aged ten years.

"Follow me."

They walked to the back of the store, and Haruhi watched as Tsubaki put away products. Makeup, weapons oil, smaller clothes, sports bras, and deadly looking hairpins.

"I never wanted to teach Kunoichi classes. But I knew I had no choice. So I taught little girls how to seduce grown men. Taught them about sex, and honeypot missions. That it was their duty to Konoha." She said bitterly.

"...But I also taught them about safe sex, about how to say no. How to Rip a man's balls off he got too close. It's not as hard as you'd think."

Haruhi nodded, thinking of what Mebuki said, how she and Kizashi signed Sakura up to protect her from predators. They couldn't have know the village would try to assign her honeypot missions.

"I don't like it, but by teaching these classes at least I can prepare them as best as I can. I always tell them to come to this store if they need anything. And If they need it, go to Kiki."

"Kiki?"

"You know, Nohara Kiki. Her civilian family has deep roots with medicines especially concerning… the female body."

Haruhi's mouth formed an O. It really put Rin into a new perspective. Was she training her granddaughter to take up the mantle before she died?

"Here. On the house."

To Haruhi's confusion, she handed her two things of nail polish. One was a beautiful matte amber-cider, perfectly matching Haruhi's skin color and eyes. Another was a matte cinnabar, identical to Karin's eyes and hair.

"They are nail polish for Kunoichi. It makes your nails as hard as steel, and contains a paralytic that activates when it comes into contact with blood. I've noticed how beautiful and long your nails are and thought you could use it. And Karin." Tsubaki explained.

Haruhi took them, thinking they were _fucking amazing._

"Wow. Got anything else like this?"

Tsubaki smirked.

"The lipstick Kurenai wears is poisonous."

They rang up Karin's makeup, Haruhi paying, and giving Karin the nail polish with an explanation, and they left.

After Karin locked the apartment door behind them, she made a beeline towards the bathroom. Haruhi sighed and took off the heavy clothes.

She stretched for a bit, freezing when she heard Karin frustrated squeals from the bathroom. Haruhi knocked on the door.

"Is something the matter?"

"...I don't know how to apply makeup. Could you help?"

Karin opened the door.

She was in a cami, bite marks exposed all over her body. Some vanished down below the lace of her cami and Haruhi had to suppress a growl.

"I can try, but I'm not so good with makeup myself." haruhi cringed, looking at the various makeup products on the counter.

She did her best, but it obviously wasn't enough. Karin was looking increasingly distressed.

Haruhi tugged at her hair.

"Karin, I think i know someone who could help. Do you guys know your neighbor lady, two doors down?"

"Yeah. Naruto says she gave him food when he was a little kid, and let him sit by her fireplace if he was quite."

Haruhi blinked. Somehow, the fact that Naruto was partially raised by a prostitute didn't surprise her as much as it should have.

"Well, I'm going to see if she could help. Is that okay?"

Karin nodded slowly, and Haruhi left, leaving a quick 'I'll be back' behind her.

She breathed deeply, then knocked on her door. For the fourth tie that day, a wary face peaked through the crack, red lipstick off and chain lock apparent. Haruhi was sensing a theme here.

"Hey, um,s-sorry about earlier um, it was rude of my. But I was wondering, if um, you could help me out, because one of my kids is having makeup trouble-"

Her eye widened and she closed the door. Haruhi heard unlocking and the woman emerged.

"Of course, Haruhi."

"You know my name?"

"Yes. They never stop talking about you. My name is Fumi."

Haruhi blushed, nodding.

They walked in, and Haruhi knocked on the bathroom door.

"Karin, can we come in?"

Karin opened the door.

Fumi's eyes widened in shock and horror when she saw the scars, but she quickly controlled herself.

She immediately took over, showing Karin how to apply the concealer, foundation, and then (with permission) applied it to Karin's scars.

Haruhi watch in amazement as they disappeared under fumi's talent with a brush, and watched the hopeful wonder on Karin's face.

Tips, tricks, and advice bubbled past Fumi's lips as she worked her magic.

When she was done, Karin stared at herself in wonder.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

Fumi nodded, and made her leave, telling them to let her know if they needed anything else.

"Alright. I think I should be going too."

Karin said goodbye and Haruhi sighed with relief. It had been a long day.

* * *

Karin admired herself in the mirror. Never before had she felt this comfortable with herself. It was almost like they had never touched her.

Her fingertips wandered across her body, pausing when she reached them hem of her undergarments, before lifting. Karin began to apply makeup there as well. She hated seeing herself with her clothes off, only even fully naked for five minute showers. But it was easier now, somehow.

Karin's hand wandered over her stomach. She froze.

Because appearing under her chakra coated fingertips was a seal.

Karin watched as it emerged, then fading out. It looked to be a storage seal of some kind. Did her mother do this?

She stood in shocked silence for five seconds, before jumping into action.

That Tenten girl was good with seals, right? Maybe she'd be able to help Karin.

Once again, she locked the door behind her, and jumped off into the sunset.

* * *

The skin on the back of her neck prickled and Haruhi spun around, just in time to see Naruto collapse in front of her. Tears streaked his face and Haruhi ran over to him.

"Naruto!?"

He blubbered, crying into her neck, arms reaching up like a child,

"Haruhi-sensei, Its sasuke! He-he, in the Uchiha district-"

"Go get Kakashi!"

Haruhi helped him stand, wiped away his tears, kissed his forehead, and took off in a mad sprint.

Hang on Sasuke, hang on.

* * *

 **Sooooo, a lot happened here.**

 **Some very heavy topics were discussed, and I know this seems rather dark but it's necessary for he themes of the story, and to expose Konoha's corruption. And anyone reading this who suffered sexual assault, It's not your fault. There are ways to get help and while I can't link anything because of stupid .net, it's only a google away for a hotline.**

 **I know these may seem like pointless filler chapters, but important things do happen here. Oh, and merry Christmas! Or happy holidays! Whichever works for you.**

 **Question of the chapter: What did you think of this chapter, just, in general? And what do you guys think of Haruhi's character?**


	50. Truth Will Out

Sasuke and Naruto krept through the Hokage tower. It was so different than from what Sasuke remembered. A few weeks ago, the tower was thrumming with activity. Genin teams running back and forth. Civilians coming into place mission orders. The academy students running from class, but now it was practically a ghost town.

The lighting was cut low, as much of the electrical lines had still yet to be replaced. And with so few people, there was no point keeping the area as well lit or heated as usual.

There was a handful of chunin manning the mission desk, and even less civilians trickling in. None of the civilians could afford missions, to busy trying to recover from the economic slump following the attack. The rich civilians, who made up most of their clientele, didn't dare come in these conditions.

Naruto shushed him, eyes flickering to the figure of the third Hokage as he left the room. He didn't seem to notice the chunin looking at him curiously as he drifted towards the library.

Right where they needed to go.

Drat.

Sasuke could take a hint, and after that conversation with Haruhi-sensei, and then the most recent meeting with the history club this morning, he knew he had to take action.

There are things going on in Konoha that he had no idea about. And what better way to find out than in the library? Naruto told him about stealing the scroll where he learned shadow clones from, and how he passed a scroll with the Uchiha crest on it.

Something told Sasuke he would find answers there.

They sneaked through the halls, the place made all the more darker due to no windows. It was a security measure so enemies couldn't enter through them. Even if there had been windows, it wouldn't have done much to brighten the place up-it was overcast.

The portraits of past hokages and jounin made it all the more eerie. He felt like they were judging him and Naruto, like their eyes were following them down the hallway. Especially the Second.

"What are you guys doing?"

They jumped so high they stuck to the ceiling.

Sasuke looked down. He saw a girl that looked familiar. Hay colored hair with flyaway strands, a white lab coat a bit too big for her, and coke bottled glasses that vaguely reminded him of Haruhi-sensei. She graduated the year before them. Shiho?

"Hello, Shiho."

She gasped.

"Oh! You remembered my name!" She seemed flattered. Good. Ahead of them, the Third walked into the library.

"Shiho, would you walk with us to the library? It's been awhile since we last saw you at the academy. We could catch up."

"What a great idea! I was just heading there myself to get more encrypting books!"

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, muttering a quick 'good save' to Sasuke from the corner of his mouth.

They walked slowly down the hall, and even Shiho seemed to pick up on the tense atmosphere, her talking going from loud and excited to almost a whisper. She ducked her head down.

When they entered the library Sasuke covertly activated his sharingan, looking at the place in the back of the library, hidden by bookshelves and walls, where the chakra was warped. It was hardly anything, and if Naruto hadn't given him the exact location to look, he never would have noticed.

"Ah, children! So good to see you here!"

Sasuke turned to see the third. He had ink on his sleeves. Tobacco ash fell onto his robes, and his hat was askew. His eyes were...distant. Like he was seeing somewhere else.

"It's good to see you as well, Lord Third!" Shiho greeted.

"Old man!" Naruto cried. He ran up and gave the third a hug.

He seemed... confused.

Sasuke's pulse jumped. Something was very wrong with the Third Hokage.

"Oh, Mikoto, who's your friend?" The Third asked genially.

Mikoto!? Why on earth did the Third refer to him by his mother's name? Sasuke did look very much like his mom, but that didn't explain why!

"Lord third,"Sasuke began cautiously, "You know him. That's Naruto Uzumaki."

He blinked.

"Oh, it's you, Kushina Uzumaki! I was beginning to wonder when you'd come talk to me! It's great to see you and Mikoto are still such good friends!" He rubbed Naruto's hair.

Naruto was now looking at the third with big eyes. He slowly backed away until he bumped into a shocked Shiho.

"Old man? Don't you remember me?"

The Third smiled blandly. His hat sloped a little further.

"Minato, of course!"

Sasuke froze.

 _Oh._

He and Shiho exchanged horrified glances. The Third was renowned for his intelligence and quick wit. It's what earned his the position of Hokage, beside his connections to the senju. The fact that someone so well read and brilliant as the Third to the point of being nicknamed the professor could lose his memory like this was nothing short of terrifying.

Naruto seemed to realize it too. He started to shake. Shiho put her coat around him.

"You guys go ahead, get what you need to. I'll talk to the third." She said gently. Sasuke felt affection for Shiho well up inside him. That was an incredibly kind thing she just did, even though she suspected them of foul play, since they came here without permission, obviously sneaking around. Respect.

Sasuke led Naruto away while Shiho talked to the Third, and led him back to his office.

Just what did this mean for Konoha? The Hokage was going senile, the village wasn't nearly recovered from the attack, the division between the civilians and ninja got wider with each passing moment, and the Village Elders were seconds away from a coup.

And who would be Hokage after the Third?

They stopped in the corner. Naruto was still trembling.

"C'mon Naruto, I'm sorry this is happening, but I can't do this without you." Sasuke whispered. He was still supporting Naruto.

"The old man doesn't remember me." He whispered, stunned.

Sasuke flinched. He couldn't even imagine what that was like. He knew the third was pretty much the first person to treat Naruto like a person, and actually care for him. For the Third to slip through his fingers like that must have been awful.

"Why?"

"Well, He is old, Naruto. And that Hat gets heavy after a while."

Naruto inhaled shakily.

"R-right. Right. Okay, lets get what we came her for."

Naruto breathed deeply, and disarmed the traps. Sasuke dispelled genjutsu, and Naruto used the chakra the third gave to him during the hug to unlock the heavy iron door. It swung open.

They entered and closed it behind them. Sasuke lit a small flame in the palm of his hand using a modified fireball jutsu, and grabbed Naruto's hand with his other. Together they walked down the narrow passageway. The small reach of his hand fire only went a few feet, and rows upon rows of scrolls disappeared up and above them. The entire area smells of mildew and minerals. There were preservation seals on the shelves-some of the metal, other carved out of the stone. Sasuke though he heard water dripping down as if in some cave.

They read the outside of the scrolls until they came to the U's.

"Hey Naruto."

Sasuke almost jumped at the sound of his own voice. It seemed to echo across countless bookshelves. So many of them. Just what was Konoha hiding?

"Wanna see if there's anything on the Uzumaki too?"

Naruto blinked, then nodded.

They scanned the rows with Sasuke's firelight, and found a scroll with the swirl emblem on it.

"Whirlpool?" Naruto mumbled. He still sounded shaky, but better than before.

"It says Uzumaki. Grab it."

Naruto pocketed it and they kept looking.

When they finally found the scroll, with the Uchiha crest on it, Sasuke's breathe caught in his throat.

It looked so innocuous. It was just sitting there, slightly wrinkled, and rolled up.

Sasuke took the scroll.

"Lets go. We can read them somewhere else."

They quickly left, their feet thudding on the stone ground, and breathes coming out in puffs of silvery clouds in front of their faces as they darted down the narrow passages.

When they got to the iron door, they shoved it open and closed it behind them. Naruto reactivated the traps, and Sasuke lifted his checks on the genjutsu.

They stepped back, and it was almost like they were never there.

Sasuke and Naruto tiptoed through the eerily empty library and tried not to flinch as the rumbling thunder rattled some of the dusty cobwebed light fixtures. Looks like nobody had the time to clean. They didn't stop, although Naruto slowed down significantly when he saw the third at the mission desk, being tended to by the female village elder, the one with the purple hair up in chopsticks. She was helping him fill out papers. The finally made it out and jumped to a secluded area-the top of the hokage mountain.

Sasuke pulled the scroll with the Uchiha markings on it, took a deep breath, exchanged glances with Naruto, and opened it.

And then he couldn't breathe.

 _On the Authority of the Council of Elders and the Third Hokage, we hereby order the execution of the Uchiha Clan on grounds of Treason, for the planning of a Coup d'état and general mismanagement. This extermination will be carried out by Itachi Uchiha, and the aftermath handled by Special Ops. Konoha's branches must be pruned in order for us to flourish. The Will of Fire burns on._

 _-Koharu Utatane, Danzō Shimura, Homura Mitokado,Sarutobi Hiruzen._

"...Sasuke?" Naruto whispered. He had been reading over his shoulder. He had seen it too. Four sentences. Maybe half a paper, if that, which spelled doom for his clan. This tiny scrap was all it took and hundreds were dead.

Sasuke _hates_. He is suddenly glad that the Third is suffering in his old age, that Haruhi sensei mocked the village elders, that Utatane has to sit and watch as the man she loves fades away before her helpless eyes!

"Sasuke, your scaring me."

Sasuke was trembling, his sharingan activated, swirling as he burned the tiny slip of paper into his memory. Everything he had know was flipped onto its head.

He knew something was wrong...but he _never_ could have expected this.

Just everything about this paper was fucked up beyond all belief.

Itachi was ordered to do this…?! But what did that even mean for them? Was he ordered to torture Sasuke? Why was Sasuke even alive? Why was he spared then if the entire clan was ordered to be executed? Why did Itachi spare him only to almost destroy Sasuke's sanity?

Even with this new knowledge that Itachi, only 13-his age in fact-was pressured by the higher ups, didn't wash the blood off his hands.

It.

Did.

Not.

Absolve.

Him.

He stabbed his family in the back for Konoha, who hated them, discriminated against them, and who orchestrated their downfall ever since the village was a thing, if Kasumi's history lessons were anything to go by. Which they were. He could have warned his family, as least spared the babies and civilians, but he mercylessly wiped them all out.

No. Itachi was not forgiven. Hurt like that does not go away.

(his brother spared him, did that mean he cared?)

The fact that they compared the genocide of an entire family to fucking pruning, of all things! And how they used the word _extermination_. Haruhi-sensei said that was one of the words they used during one of these 'genocides' in her world, called the _Holocaust._ In order to make the deaths of many seem less important, like squashing cockroaches instead of murdering people. Like it was a good thing. It was too much.

Sasuke ran.

"Sasuke-wait!"

But Naruto couldn't keep up with him. He could hear Naruto's cries as he ran through the undergrowth, branches whipping into his face, breathing staggered and shallow.

What was to stop the village from killing him too? To keep him a complacent little robot, spewing the Will of Fire wherever he went? Burning others to the ground?

A bolt of pure terror ran through him and he tripped and fell to the ground, shivering.

What about Haruhi-sensei?

She kept it toned down, but she was still the most outspoken person Sasuke knew, even topping Naruto, in all of his former obliviousness. She was used to a world where she could speak her mind.

His eyes darted around searching for masked figures coming to take him away to some cell in T&I. Just like how it was with Orochimaru.

It takes him longer than it should, but he realizes he is at the Uchiha compound.

He curls up and whimpers, and he wants to hate himself for being so weak, just like how Itachi said, _pathetic_ , but he knows better now.

He is allowed to cry. He is allowed to be sad. Those things are not wrong. Those things do not make him weak.

Sasuke knows this now, along with so many other things.

Like how Itachi is a liar, and although his words echo in his head, Sasuke knows they are wrong.

He twitches when he hears footsteps and heavy breathing, before looking up, otherwise immaculate vision blurred by tears.

It was Haruhi-sensei.

Her hair was in a row of braids she called cornrows, the ends spilling over her shoulders. Her clothes were rumpled from running, and sweat dripped from her brow. Her eyes were filled with worry, the amber sparkling in the fading sunlight behind her glasses.

"Oh, Sasuke, come here…"

She staggered over to him and fell to her knees, covering his body with hers and hugging him. She turned, pulling him into her lap, and Sasuke, for the first time in years, _felt safe_.

She said nothing as she let him cry, and he was grateful for that. He felt her breath hitch as she read the crumpled letter detailing the truth behind the massacre, and she held him closer.

He finally calmed down enough for her to get his attention. She was holding up a kunai from his pocket, close to his face.

"Look at your eyes." She whispered.

He didn't want to, but he finally emerged, bringing his face from the crook of her neck and looked into the reflective metal.

His eyes had red stars in them.

He watches as they swirl into his regular black. He remembers at that moment, of Itachi telling his to kill his best friend to unlock the same power as him, and feels a sharp stab of relief and vindication. He didn't and he still got the eyes. Itachi was wrong, _wrong_.

Haruhi-sensei put the kunai away, and rocked him gently in her lap, to the point where Sasuke made no noise when Kakashi-sensei arrived minutes later, and read the same letter they had read.

Sasuke tensed up. What would Kakashi-sensei do? Would he turn Sasuke in for taking the scroll, would he-

A hand, too large and callused to be Haruhi-sensei's, runs through his hair.

He feels Kakashi sit next to them, folding the letter and tucking it deeply into his pockets, where Haruhi used to be, and he hugs them both.

"It'll be alright. I'll make sure of it." Kakashi-sensei promises. His voice is deep and gravelly, but soaked in sincerity.

He feels Haruhi-sensei grit her jaw, nodding along, and despite all the lies, the betrayal, the manipulation, he can't help but believe them.

* * *

 **This is a game changer of unimaginable proportions. Literally two thirds of the original plot was driven by Sasuke and his quest for revenge. Kakashi's faith in konoha was already wavering, what with trying to kill the woman he loves and his students, but it has officially reached a breaking point.**

 **Literally anything can happen; it's a toss up from now on.**

 **And also, Happy 50's chapter! WOW guys, we really made it here! When I started this story, I never could have though I'd make it this far, but seeing it believing, so thank you!**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you think the repercussion of Sasuke finding out the truth will be?**


	51. Echoes Of Woes

Kakashi helped Haruhi and Sasuke up from the crumbling compound pathways, before walking them back to their house. Haruhi was thankful he didn't use the teleportation jutsu, or else they might have thrown up. The Uchiha compound was a 20 minute walk away from Kakashi's house, and the entire trip was spent in silence, with only their footsteps and sniffling to fill the air.

The surrounds were eerily quiet, mostly due to many of the crickets having been killed in fires. At one point, Naruto joined them, nervously wringing his hands, and shooting Haruhi hopeful looks, like he thought she could fix this; make it better.

At that thought, Haruhi swallowed. She didn't want to let him down.

When they finally got back, Kakashi opened the door and ushered them in, the letter clenched in his hand so hard his knuckles were white. Haruhi shot him a concerned glance, and he didn't bother trying to muster up a fake smile; they both knew it wasn't the time for that.

Kakashi created a shadow clone, which grabbed some of his old clothes for Sasuke to wear because his were smudged with dirt and- _cobwebs?_ They let Sasuke rest on their bed, covering him up with Haruhi's favorite blanket. He seemed to be shell-shocked and exhausted. His limbs trembled from his mad dash. Haruhi didn't like the blank look in his eyes. Kakashi summoned his pack, and plonked them on the bed, and god bless them the immediately knew what to do, cuddling Sasuke and comforting him.

"Call if you need anything." Haruhi spoke so quietly it was almost a whisper, and they closed the door.

As soon as Sasuke was out of sight, Kakashi grabbed Haruhi's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. They stood there for a few moments, Kakashi loosening his grip on the paper in order to comfort Haruhi before sighing deeply.

"We should talk to Naruto about this."

"Yeah."

They found him in the kitchen, sitting on Haruhi's favorite stool. When he saw them, he jump, and ran into Haruhi for a flying hug. She patted his back and felt him crying into her stomach.

She walked them into the living room and to the couch, sparing a quick glance at the bookshelf she used to live in, before Kakashi joined them, sitting on the other side of Naruto.

When Naruto finally emerged, Kakashi gave him a kind, but serious look.

"Naruto, did you read this as well?" Kakashi held up the paper.

"...Yes."

"Where did you get it?"

"Me and Sasuke wanted to find answers, so we snuck into the library…"

This confirmed Kakashi's suspicions, if his soft sigh was anything to go by.

"Naruto, I know what you read is scary, and that you want to make it right. Believe me, I do to. But you absolutely cannot go spreading this around. You could get in serious trouble, and not even I or the third could help you."

At the mentioning of the third Naruto started to cry.

"S'not like the Third can help anyone nowadays."

The skin on the back of her neck prickled, and her and Kakashi exchanged startled looks.

"What do you mean about that?"

"When we saw him in the library, he didn't know me. He was confused, and had tobacco and ink stains on him. He called Sasuke Mikoto, and me Minato."

Kakashi looked like he had been sucker punched by Tsunade senju and she probably didn't look much better. God, really, His father?

The Third was losing his mind. Had lost his mind, it seemed. It happened to old people.

"Haruhi-sensei, I don't think I want to be Hokage anymore." Naruto said.

Then burst into tears.

Reeling, Haruhi put her arms around Naruto's shoulders, and pressed his face into her neck.

"Jiji did b-bad things! And i-if I become Hokage, I'll have to do that too!" he wailed.

Well, he wasn't wrong. Being the military dictator of a fascist genocidal state meant you were compliant in a lot of atrocious things. Took part in even more. Covered them up too.

"I want to ask him w-why, why did he let Sasuke family die, but now he can't even answer me! I've known him my entire life and he doesn't even remember my name!"

Haruhi's heart breaks. She scoops Naruto up into her arms. And look, she hated the Third hokage, okay? That MF did some seriously shady things while Hokage, and helped cover up even more terrible things as the Hokage. He let Orochimaru go, allowed Danzo to do everything awful(child abuse, kidnapping, further abusing Yamato, murder, sabotage, etc) and let Tsunade and her medical skills leave, condemning many ill to die now that her skills were gone.

But at the same time, he treated Naruto like a person when no one else would. And yeah, that probably had to do with his parents and background more than anything else, but he was a figure in Naruto's life that Naruto loved, and felt like he could depend on in a time where he didn't have anyone else. That was priceless.

All that was shattered now.

It wasn't even like the guy died, as in canon. This was a much more brutal event, because instead of just having the third killed and gone, reputation intact, The third's image in Naruto's former hero worshiping eyes was dragged through the mud, the pedestal was crushed. All that was left were his vacant eyes, a reminder of the man he once was, the man everyone thought he was, and what he actually was-now and forever.

She looked up.

Kakashi's face had gone carefully blank.

Haruhi shot his a partially panicked look as she was trying to keep it together, because that was never good. He was still holding the paper in his hand, the one damning the elders and the Uchiha. Haruhi fought the sudden urge to jump up and grab it, as Naruto was still sobbing into her. That was evidence. Proof. Validation. If it was destroyed, it would be that much harder to get justice for the Uchiha.

"Hide it. Protect the letter. It's incredibly important."

Kakashi's eye sharpened, and he nodded.

Then Haruhi stuck her hand down her shirt and pulled out her seal. The one she came here in, and then swiped from Orochimaru's labs, and handed it to Kakashi, who had gone bug eyed.

"Orochimaru had it. I swiped it from him, but was too scared to tell anyone, because I didn't know who to trust."

Kakashi looked at it, and then her, eyes lighting up in understanding.

"But now, I do."

He smiled at her, and carefully sealed the papers away.

"Kakashi sensei, who is Minato? And Kushina?"

Kakashi freezes.

"Naruto, you cannot tell anyone about what I'm going to tell you."

Naruto nodded, eyes wide.

Kakashi told him that those people were his parents. He said he couldn't tell Naruto everything, not until he was older at least, but he told him about his father, who was also kind, and his mother, who was ferocious.

It was the quietest she had ever seen him.

Kakashi took Naruto home, and she stayed with Sasuke, who places his head in her lap and tried not to shake apart.

* * *

Sasuke was quiet for the next couple of weeks. He wandered around in a daze, ignorant of the stares he was getting. Haruhi and kakashi both tried to be there for him, but Kakashi kept on getting called away again and again for missions, and Sasuke was a ninja. He could easily leave Haruhi behind if he felt like it. Naruto promised to keep quiet, and continued training with the rest of team seven-minus Sasuke.

All she could do was sigh and be there for him when he came to her.

But for now?

Well, Haruhi was one busy bee.

In order to cope the the groundbreaking revelations and consequences, and to gain some semblance of control, she threw herself headlong into meetings, group talks, and civilian events.

She went for "Tea" with Kasumi, She worked with Akira in the back of his clothing shop, discussing strategies.

"Akira, I had the idea of starting classes that teach retired Shinobi and others about life skills that they never learned in the academy. Like cooking, sewing, and other social skills."

"Great Idea! I'm pretty sure I can talk to Kizashi about it. And I can start some of my own classes as well."

Haruhi then went to Kizashi's group meetings, seeing Inari there as well, and the blacksmith that took Tenten under her wing. They learned cooking and things.

"I think that's a great idea, Haruhi. I can see why my daughter likes you so much!" He laughed, cheerfully, and Haruhi smiled too. She thought it was remarkable, considering what Mebuki said at Kasumi's, that he could laugh like that.

After everything, he could still laugh.

It gave her hope.

She spoke with Ami and Inari at the immigrant meetings. Learning about the diverse cultures and different perspectives was a breath of fresh air. Haruhi felt less lonely-she wasn't the only person here who's original home wasn't Konoha. Haruhi brought up her idea of teaching life skills to those who never got the chance to learn them, and Inari pitched in with a great idea.

"Hey, Isn't Kasumi's sister a publisher?"

"Um, yeah."

"Why don't you see if you can maybe get a pamphlet published, and place them in places like the library and the supermarket."

"Inari, that's genius!"

At the next meeting with Kasumi, she brings it up. Kasumi's eyes sparkle the way they did when she came up with the doll idea all those months ago when Kakashi took her to get clothes, and she grins a savage grin-one that Haruhi gladly returned.

"That," Kasumi began, "Has a lot of potential."

Haruhi then tells her about her idea of adult education classes. Many civilians drop out of school, if they go at all, and ninja graduate too early to have a substantial education.

Kasumi recommended a woman named Rikki, who ran the main newspaper in Konoha, and who also knew her through her publisher-sister. Tsubaki then spoke up, saying she wouldn't mind holding these extra classes with Iruka-sensei, both to teach ninja life skills and others how to read.

Haruhi was so happy she cried.

She met up with Rikki, and asked if she would be willing to put ads to ask for teacher and volunteers.

"And why should I do that?" Rikki was dressed in lavish clothing, and eating expensive sushi for her lunch.

"Simple. Because it benefits you. The more people that can read, the more people that buy your newspaper. The power of the Konoha Gazette will grow exponentially."

Rikki is sold, and even volunteers to rent out meeting rooms for them. Haruhi makes sure Iruka and Tsubaki know about this as well, and they coordinate. Soon, two dozen people trickle in after hours, and begin learning to read. Some of them are genin who were rushed through the academy and sent to war or dropped. When Iruka and Tsubaki see them, their faces tighten with guilt and shame, and they personally take it upon themselves to help them.

Haruhi particularly likes that. The fact that these two chunin in respectable, prominent positions in the village are helping civilians and civilian-bornes. It shrinks the gap between ninja and civilians, if only a little.

Baby steps.

Haruhi visits Haku, Sakura, Ino, and Karin in the Hospital.

Ino is doing better, but a lot of her tissue is still raw. Haku's and Hinata's salve's help with scaring.

She tells them her idea of pepper spray. Ino and Haku use their skills with herbs to dilute it, with Sakura helping to get the equipment. They gather empty spray bottles sold on the market by the dozen, and fill them up.

Just to be sure it works, Haruhi tries it on herself.

It works.

When she's finally done blinking the tears and milk out of her eyes, she sees Kakashi in front of her. He looks exhausted, but he still smiles, and gives her a backpack and planner.

"You're quite busy. I think this'll help."

Haruhi grins, hugs him, kisses his cheek, and wishes him good luck. They have Kakashi on a wild goose chase to find Orochimaru, but they all know it's because the elders want him out of village.

At the next meeting at Akira's, Haruhi hands out pepper spray, along with freshly printed pamphlets on how to use them. She does the same at Kizashi's, Kasumi's, and at Inari's, who gives them out to each civilian who walks through the door of her restaurant. Pepper spray doesn't count as weapons(as there is a law barring civilians from using weapons) So they can get away with it.

When Haruhi finally clocks in for the night, rubbing a creak in her neck, she sees Sasuke sitting on the front step of Kakashi's house.

The exhaustion is shoved away.

"Sasuke." She says, not knowing what else to say.

His under eyes are smudged. Haruhi thinks of his newly awakened mangekyou sharingan. She needs to talk to him about it.

"Will you come with me? I want to see my house."

"Of course."

She ignores her aching joints and empty stomach, and walks with Sasuke to the Uchiha compound.

She looks at the hastily constructed Uchiha houses, realizes how even through years of damage and wear, that they were flimsy to begin with. That the Uchiha were cramped in these living quarters, separated from the rest of the village.

With a tiny inhale, she realizes this was a Ghetto. Like the ones the Nazi's shoved the Jews in during the Holocaust, before they took them away to death camps.

Haruhi looks down when she feels something underfoot, and raised her leg. It's a tiny pair of baby shoes. They're a faded pink, with little kittens on the side, and a red-brown splatter that can only be one thing. She feels Sasuke slide his hand into hers, and she holds on as tight as he does.

When they finally make it to the main house, the door is partially off its hinges. It blows open; ghosts inviting them inside.

They step in.

Haruhi tries to pull back thinking that Sasuke maybe wanted some privacy, but he holds on tighter.

"No," He said hoarsely, "Someone else needs to see this too."

Haruhi nods, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand.

They walk, and they see all sorts of things that whisper of the past. Echoes of what was, the noise of the well worn blouse, the singing of the lacy scarf on the handmade kitchen chair, made as a gift from Fuguku to Mikoto, caromed off the walls, and through the house, highlighting just how dark and empty it was.

There was a family in Haruhi's neighborhood that moved away when she was younger. It was a small, loving family, complete with movie nights and homemade dinners, A tragic gas leak killed the wife and daughter. The solitary husband packed up and left. Later, whe she and a few friends went to explore the "haunted house" They found birthday cards strewn on the floor, teddy bears with chewed on ears, and a clearly worn part of the couch the family loved to sit on-imprints of what was. It truly was haunted.

It reminded her of her own house, after her father passed away in his sleep. Seeing his food stained books, his harmonica, and a worn ring on the wood table where he placed down his hot coffee, was like a punch to the gut. Because pieces of him were everywhere, but she'd never see him whole again.

She knew how Sasuke felt, to an extent, when he looked at his mother's scarf, and his father's chair.

Haruhi wondered how her mother felt, looking at Haruhi's favorite cup, and her wire notebooks. Her favorite writing pen. She blinked back tears and tried not to let guilt consume her.

They walked around for hours, long after the stars came up, and Sasuke started to tell her stories.

"My father got mom that fan for her birthday, and she used it almost always. During the summer, she'd blow air on herself, and him when he sat by her."

"That lighter is from my mother to my father. She thought it was funny, since the Uchiha are known for their fire jutsu. But he kept it anyway, using it to burn papers he didn't like."

"They got me that Dinosaur for my birthday. I really wanted a green one. I never let it go, when I was younger."

They happened across a set of fancy shuriken, painstakingly carved.

"Itachi-" His voice cracked. He tried, and failed, to speak again, but couldn't.

And that was all about that.

When they finally emerged, the stars were beginning to fade on the edge of the horizon, where the sky was turning gray with the first breath of dawn.

Haruhi inhaled, bringing in the fresh, dewy, crisp morning air, the scent of the Naka river, and the greenery springing from the cracks in the stone. And then exhaled.

She felt raw and new, and completely sapped of energy. Fragile and delicate-a new flower bud. Her whole body was trembling minutely with exhaustion, like she had just run a 5k. But there was something...satisfying, about that. It felt like they accomplished something.

They walked to the end of the district, and heard calls in the distance. Sakura and Naruto were running towards them. Sasuke let go of her hand. He had been holding it the entire night.

"Sasuke! Haruhi-sensei! There you are!" Sakura's call was gentle, as if she knew what they just went through. She hugged her, and then went to hug Sasuke, but abruptly stopped, instead awkwardly smiling.

"I gotta talk to Sasuke, and Naruto wants to talk to Haruhi-sensei. Is that okay?"

She tugged Sasuke to the side, and Naruto grabbed the hand Sasuke had held. She caught Sasuke's eye and he nodded.

"Haruhi-sensei, paint the hokage mountain with me!"

Her brain shorted out.

"What?"

Naruto held up buckets of paint.

"Wanna vandalize the hokage monument with me?"

It takes her way longer than it should to digest that statement. But when she finally did, she was left with a dilemma. On one hand, almost being executed once was enough, and Kakashi wasn't here to bail her ass out this time. On the other hand…

"As long a I get to fuck up Tobirama."

Naruto grins, and forcing her sluggish limbs to move, they sprint towards the monument.

* * *

Sasuke watched Sakura form the corner of his eye, mind still spinning who thoughts of the past few hours and weeks. The confusion, the questioning, and finally the answers.

He was glad to finally have his questions answered, but the truth was not a pretty one.

He was so tired.

"Are you alright, you um, look a little tired…"

Really?

He waved her concern away.

"Sasuke, I um, I wanted too.."

Wanted to what? She was clearly nervous, playing with her hands out of the corner of his eyes. Sasuke noticed the now defined muscles in her arms, and the calloused fingertips from excessive writing. She has been working hard.

"I'm sorry!" She then throws herself into a bow.

...What?

"For what?"

She looks up, and to his horror, there are tears in her eyes.

"I didn't treat you right."

Sasuke opens, and then closes his mouth. He remembers all the times she would hang off his arm, sneaking little brushes of the hand whenever she could. Ignoring his discomfort.

She really didn't.

"I know it was wrong, what I did. I ignored your protests, and discomfort. I only thought about what I wanted-I never considered your feelings! I romanticized your pain and suffering, your depression and PTSD, and turned getting you to like me into a game! I was supposed to be your teammate, your friend! But instead I made it so you felt unsafe around me. I'm sorry."

Sasuke blinked.

"...Yeah. You did."

She flinched, but didn't run away.

"Why?"

"...You go to those history groups right?"

"Yes."

"So you know how civilians are treated."

"Yes."

"When I looked at you and daydreamed, I dreamed of being called Mrs Uchiha, or Uchiha-dono. I wanted to marry you, not just because I liked you, but because, well...people _respect_ clan ninja. If I became your wife, no one would look down on me anymore. No one would dare to bully me or call me the civilian-born. Mizuki-sensei would rue the day he overlooked teaching me for Ino. With you...I would _be_ somebody."

Oh.

"But now I realize I _am_ somebody, somebody important! I can crush boulders with my bare hands, keep a fish alive out of water! I love my friends and family, and take care of civilians who can't afford the expensive hospital treatment! And even though it's harder for me, I'm gonna make a name for myself! They'll have no choice but to respect me! And I realize you are somebody too! More than a daydream! A person with your own hopes and dreams, and who doesn't owe anybody anything! And certainly not their hands in marriage!"

 _Oh._

"I still like you, Sasuke. All these months, I've come to know the real you-a kind, thoughtful, caring person, doing the best he could with being dealt a bad hand. But I understand If you don't like me. That's fine. Maybe down the road, when were older, you'll want to date me, or marry me. And if you do, I'll accept it. And not because I think I'm nobody. Not because I think I'm not worth it, but because, for maybe the first time, _I know I am_."

Had he got something in his eye? It was leaking.

"So, I'm sorry. For everything. And I was wondering,if m-maybe you wanted t-to…"

To?

"-Be friends?" It came out as a squeak.

Sasuke stared, stunned. Then smiled.

"Yeah, I...yeah. I can do friends."

She smiled back, and the first rays of dawn broke over the hokage mountain, bathing them in a pink light. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked.

"Let's watch the sunrise." He suggested.

"Sounds good."

They watched the sunrise.

Then Sakura gasped, stood up, and pointed at the Hokage mountain.

"Is that-!?"

Sasuke frowned and looked.

Naruto and Haruhi-sensei were busy painting it up. Naruto had drawn boogers on the first and fourth, while Haruhi-sensei had drawn drool pooling out of the thirds mouth.

Which was a bit too on the mark…

The second hokage was what concerned him the most.

On lord Tobirama's cheek, she had drawn a penis, and written ' _Hoe_ birama' on his forehead.

Sasuke couldn't help it.

He laughed.

Longly, loudly, and helplessly, it felt like living.

* * *

Karin sucked in a breath as Tenten's cool hands pressed against her stomach. She hated people touching her, but with the makeup hiding the worst of the scars, and the group meetings at Akira's soothing some of her jagged edges, she was able to keep still enough for Tenten to examine the contents of the seal.

"I think my mother put it there." Karin said softly.

"Yeah, she was an Uzumaki, right?"

"Yes, a seal master. She taught me some of it."

Tenten hummed, and then pulled put a detailed scroll on the art of sealing. The kind that wasn't available in Konoha. The kind that propelled the Second and the Fourth into office.

Tenten grinned widely.

"Oh, this has potential!"

"Will your sister come back?" Tenten had been taken in when she was younger by a blacksmith.

"Nah, she's in a meeting, pretty sure Haruhi-sensei's there too."

"Is that all that's in there?"

Tenten laughed gleefully.

"Not by a longshot. I was only able to reach in a little. The pocket dimension in your seal is huge! Who knows what's in there!"

"Do you think this can help Neji?"

At that, Tenten's face lost some of its luster. The chattel slavery of the Hyuga clan was a sensitive subject for her, considering her teammate was Neji. She cared for him deeply, and hated what he was forced to go through.

"I know so. With your permission, I'd like to contact Hinata and Neji and get started right away."

Karin knew what it was like to be trapped, and saved by someone who didn't have to help you.

She nodded.

* * *

Jiraiya whistled as he walked, the familiar air of fire country comforting him. He had received a missive from Sensei and Utanane, speaking of a matter of utmost importance.

He also received word of Orochimaru's antics, and the damage the village took. He normally cycled back to konoha once every few years, so twice in one year was a bit out of the ordinary for him. But nothing seemed to be normal lately anyway.

As he stepped past the awed chunin, he couldn't but chuckle. Jiraiya the legendary sannin had returned.

He choked when he looked up and ran into a street lamp.

Someone had drawn a penis on the Second Hokage.

* * *

 **HAHA, yes! Haruhi really is that B!tch!**

 **And wow, so many things going on at once! The wheel is spinning faster and faster, and soon, its going to reach a breaking point...**

 **Question of the chapter: What was your favorite part of this chapter, and why?**


	52. Plots Afoot

So, Jiraiya was back in town.

His arrival was met with much cheer, uplifting after the chaos that was the first stage of the chunin exams. It was met with increased moral and strangely, rumors of him running into a electricity pole.

Hm.

Haruhi shrugged, holding still as Kakashi frantically tried to scrub the paint off her arms. He had seen her and Naruto just as they were putting their finishing touches on the Hokage monument, just coming back from his mission. He freaked, and swooped them back to their respective houses.

"Really Haruhi, what were you thinking?" Kakashi sounded amused, but she heard the undercurrent of worry in his voice, and felt guilty.

"Well, I don't know, Naruto offered, and it's just been so depressing lately, I thought it would be fun."

The circular motions on her shoulder slowed, and Kakashi's hand slid from her forearm to weave with her hand. His thumb rubbed circled into the back of her hand and her heartbeat picked up. The arm holding the washcloth dropped it into the warm water and wrapped around her shoulders pulling her into a hug.

It was incredibly comforting.

"I know it's been hard lately, and I have been busy lately. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you guys."

Haruhi sighed into his shoulder, absentmindedly watching the spot where she had a bath in a teacup.

"-But you can't keep doing this."

Wait. What?

Haruhi pulled away, shooting him a confused look.

"What do you mean?" She said, a bit defensively. She felt her ears grow warm.

"This, Haruhi."

"Alright, I won't paint the hokage mountain-"

"-That's not what I meant either."

Her mouth audible clicked shut.

"You cannot keep going to those meetings. With Kasumi. Akira, Kizashi, and Inari. It's not that I don't support or agree with you guys, but it's too dangerous."

"Then w-why did you give me the planner and backpack!?"

"Because I thought you would be more discreet! But now you have a target on you back, you're putting yourself in danger!"

"Oh please! I've had a target on my back since the very beginning and _you damn well know it!_ "

"..."

"A-and very hypocritical of you, Mr ninja! Telling me I can't do something because its dangerous."

The visible parts of his face flushed.

"That's different! I can defend myself! I'm just trying to keep you alive!"

"Why? Because It's your mission? Is that what I am to you? The sad little c-rank civilian?"

Hearing her voice wobble, he backtracked.

"No! No... You're…"

His voice trailed off. Haruhi's face darkened.

"Right." She said flatly. "I'm going to Kizashi's for another cooking meet. See you later."

She jumped off the counter and brushed past Kakashi. She changed into fresh clothes, got her book bag with all her things, and rushed out the door. She was exhausted, her eye bags were huge, but she was also on the verge of tears, and was afraid she'd cry if she stayed a minute longer.

She didn't know why Kakashi telling her to stop bothered her so much. But it did. She hardly noticed the pitying looks as she power walked towards the Haruno family home, blinking rapidly.

The door opened before she could knock, and Mebuki pulled her into a hug. It was warm and comforting like a mothers, and it reminded Haruhi of her own mother, all alone now, and she only cried harder.

Mebuki sat her down on the comfy chair and wrapped her in a blanket while Kizashi made her tea.

Haruhi tried to apologize for barging in, because despite what she said to Kakashi there was no actual cooking class today. It was Thursday, and cooking class was held on Sunday. But they didn't seem to mind, instead, patiently waiting and comforting her.

"What's wrong, dear?" Mebuki said. Haruhi had seen her last at Kasumi's Tuesday. She was looking well. Glowing, actually. She had a healthy radiance to her, and was plumper than she was a few months ago.

"Well, It's nothing really!"

To Haruhi's surprise, Anko walked in. She was wearing Mebuki's shirt, Kizashi's overlarge trouser and had bead head. She was carrying some of Kizashi's cooking.

"A-anko!" Haruhi hadn't seen her since the trial. She looked much better.

"Who do I need to beat up?" She said, half jokingly.

Mebuki and Kizashi smiled in greeting before going back to Haruhi.

"Ah! Stop devaluing yourself Haruhi! You always brush your own problems under the rug! We wanna hear it!"

"Yeah!"

"Okay then. I um, ah, Kakashi said that I should stop going to all these meetings. He said they were to..that I was attracting the wrong sorts of attention."

Mebuki, Anko, and Kizashi exchanged looks.

"First fight, huh?" Kizashi said.

"Haruhi..these meetings aren't exactly going to make you popular among the Konoha higher ups. We make it so they can't actually bring us in for anything, but still…"

Haruhi flushed. So they were taking his side?

"I know that!" Haruhi snapped.

They blinked at her sharp tone.

"Sorry...but I know what i'm getting into. I know what this means, by getting involved in these grassroots things. I was involved back at my home too. I know what can happen to me if I get caught. I _did_ get caught. You three were there hugging Sakura outside the courtroom! I'm doing this in spite of the danger, because these meetings are what I truly believe in. I truly think they can make a difference."

They sat, stunned by her words.

"And I know I like to play the fool, but I'm not. My Great-Great Grandmother was a slave on a plantation in the south. You don't know what this means, but she freed herself by running up north, and then became apart of the underground railroad. She saved hundreds, through great risk to herself, by hiding them, feeding them, teaching them skills to hide themselves and find work. I grew up listening to stories of her and her bravery. And this world needs more people like her. I can be one of them. We are all one of them!"

Mebuki blinked, and Kizashi nodded his head.

"You are also taking great risks, to teach ninja how to cope, to view themselves with kindness. In feeding them, and teaching them skills they need to survive. In a village that wants their ninja to view themselves as disposable tools, what you are doing is revolutionary! To teach them to value themselves when they are supposed to have no value! You could be executed! Yet you think it's worth it! We know It is! I know it is. You two have been great friends to me, and a big part of why is because you understand why this is so important."

Haruhi sighed.

"So I understand why you agree with Kakashi, and why he doesn't want me to do this, but I want to. I need to."

"..."

Kizashi started clapping, wiping away a tear. Mebuki nodded, impressed. Anko raised a glass of alcohol she had somehow procured, before tipping it all back. Haruhi blushed at their antics. She watched as Mebuki camly rejected Anko's offer for a drink and smiled.

"Did anyone ever say you have a gift with words?"

"Once or twice."

"Did you tell Kakashi this?"

Haruhi felt her face flush, which was answer enough.

"Well, why don't you have something to eat, and then you can go and talk to him about this."

Haruhi nodded, but balked when Kizashi stood up to grab her some sweets. They were high in calories, and she was fat enough, but Haruhi didn't want to be rude and say no, so she took one.

Just as she was about to take a bite, the door burst open.

"Mom! Dad! Anko! Me and Sasuke have something to ask-oh, Haruhi-sensei!"

Haruhi waved awkwardly, wondering what Sasuke was doing here. She had just seen them not a few hours ago, so seeing them again was kinda weird.

"Ask me what?"

Sakura blinked, and shook her head. Haruhi used the distraction to discreetly throw the chocolate away.

"Well, we were talking, and Sasuke wants to clean up the Uchiha compound. And, Like, a lot of the homes have a lot of damage from age and stuff, so he needs someone to check the electrical. And not to mention the plumbing and the building structures."

Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Business is slow after the damage from Orochimaru was fixed. I'd love to work on the districts. But are most of the houses cleared out?"

"I've got five shadow clones working on it right now. I also got Naruto from his apartment, and he's a huge help too, with even more shadow clones. We've already covered half the houses. Certain things that are valuable enough go to the… the main house. Things damaged beyond repair are throw out. Pantry food still in date is donated to the homeless shelters."

After the attack the village simply didn't have the funds or didn't care when lower class civilians houses were destroyed. Haruhi thought it was both. The shelters were crowded and constantly low on supplies.

"Kasumi's brother is a carpenter. Talk to Kasumi about it. And Tenten's sister also works with metal too. Maybe you could talk to her as well." Haruhi said, remembering how he made her mini stairs, and talking to Emi at some of the meetings Here.

"Sasuke, what do you plan to do with the houses once they're clean and renovated?" Kizashi asked.

Sasuke hesitated.

"I wanted to make it a shelter. Many people lost their homes in the attack, which they can't pay to fix up. And even more were out on the street before that. I want to give them a place to live, and all these homes are there. Empty. I'm not sure if anyone wants to live in a place where a massacre happened, but I figured I could try."

"Don't you need to be clan head for much of this?" Mebuki asked.

Sasuke scowled.

"Yeah, I do. The other clan heads need to majority vote me into the position, since there is no more Uchiha to do it."

And Danzo was one of the clan heads. This could pose a problem.

"That part is gonna be a challenge, but in the meantime, I have access to enough resources to clean and renovate the place. Naruto is an expert on traps, and is disabling them. A lot of houses need to be completely torn down, and I was thinking of getting rid of the wall separating the compound from the rest of the village entirely, and creating more bridges so it's not so isolated. And the buffer zone between the compound and the rest of the village, the parts that aren't the Naka river floodplain, I figured we could build there."

"Sasuke! I'm gonna go talk to Ino! A lot of the Rookie nine are clan heirs or close to it! If we can convince them to make you heir, maybe they can convince their parents!" Sakura shouted.

"Great idea! Sakura, you go do that, I'll go talk to Kasumi's brother and talk to Tenten's blacksmith adopted sister, and the rest of you go back and evaluate the compound."

Mebuki grinned, cracking her knuckles.

"Alright let's get to it!"

* * *

Karin bit her lip as Tenten studied Neji's seal, humming and comparing it to her notes. Hinata poked her fingers nervously in the background.

"Well?" Neji ground out. He was incredibly tense.

"This seal is an abomination." Tenten's voice was flat with disgust.

"Yes it is." Hinata said, sounding ashamed.

"No you don't get it! Activate your eyes and look, really look at the seal, and how its connected to Neji's chakra. Neji, try to perform lion fist."

Lion fist was a main branch technique.

Neji tried to perform it, but Karin felt his chakra flicker and die right before it could be completed. And the origin of the flicker...right from the seal.

Hinata gasped in horror.

"I can't say for sure, because I'm not a medic nin, but I'm pretty sure the seal is destroying his chakra pathways and nerves. The more intensely he trains with his eyes activated, the worse it gets."

Hinata begins to cry and Neji closes his eyes.

"Well, where do we get a medic nin?"

Tenten was about to answer, when the doorbell chimed loudly downstairs, signifying a customer.

"Kizashi! What a surprise!" It was Emi.

"Sakura's father?" Tenten murmured.

They talked, voices barely above a whisper, before Emi called upstairs.

"Tenten, I'm leaving! Make sure to manage the shop today!"

"Okay!"

The bell chimed again as they left.

"As I was saying, does anyone here know a medic nin we can trust? I would get Sakura, but I don't think she has enough experience for this." Tenten said.

"W-well, some of the Hyuga are medics." Hinata said.

"Yes, but we can't risk being found out this early on." Neji said.

"I may know someone."

They all looked at her.

After living with Haku for over a month now in Naruto's apartment, they had gotten pretty close. They did each others makeup in the mornings, and Karin helped her style her hair. They both helped each other cover up their scars with foundation, like how Fumi taught them.

"Haku is very secretive. She's been training to be a medic nin since she was a child. She has more experience than Sakura, and has been working on restoring damaged nerves with Ino and herself."

Tenten nodded.

"Go get her."

Karin jumped out the window. She dashed to the hospital as fast as she could, jumping over rooftops and around buildings to get there. She entered through an open window and ran through the halls, concentrated on Haku's cool as ice signature.

There were four others with her.

Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and...Sakura.

Karin slowed to a stop.

Sakura had never quite forgiven her for not helping Ino with her healing powers. But Karin remembered their hands and mouths on her and she just couldn't.

Haku, being a sensor herself, had already emerged from the room and closed the door behind her. Sakura was talking intently to the other three, who were listening intently.

"Hello Karin, it your makeup okay?"

Haku helped her put makeup on the parts she couldn't reach. Karin help Haku pick feminine clothings and put on her stuffed bra that Fumi had given her.

"No, its, uh, something else. Something discreet."

Haku's eye narrowed behind the mask Kakashi gave her. Before Haku had come to Konoha, she and Zabuza worked for the revolution in Kiri. Karin new about it because Grass nin had sometimes traded with rebels. Haku would sometimes tell her and Naruto over Dinner about what she and Zabuza would do to fund the revolution. No small part of that was Haku using her healing skills.

"I have a tail, since the chunin exams. First we shake him and then we can go."

Karin reached out her senses and at the very edge, was the tail. Their chakra was all weird and messed up. The normally vibrant emotions were almost non existent, suppressed under layers of trauma, and..blankness.

Haku and Karin nodded, and then jumped off. They weaved and dodged around trees and through the village, the tail keeping pace, if falling behind a bit. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't shake him.

"We need to confront them."

Haku nodded.

"I have meet them once before."

"Really?"

"Yes. They have been tailing for probably as long as I've been in the village. They know I was involved in the Kiri revolution. They are suspicious of me. The tail is a boy no older than either of us. He is so pale, I often think he spent his whole life underground and in the night, where light does not touch."

Karin nodded.

The boy landed in the clearing with them, and he was just as pale as Haku said. Karin saw more color on corpses. He was dressed in combat gear, and strangly, a porcelain mask.

When it became clear he wasn't going to speak first, Haku cleared her throat.

"Leave. Stop following us."

He tilted his head.

"What is your name?" Karin asked.

For the briefest moment, she felt his chakra flicker in surprise, and then...gratitude?

"My name is Sai." He says.

Karin feels his chakra rolls with that statement. He is someone. This is very significant for him and Haku can feel it as well. Some of Haku's hostility fades, and she speaks again.

"Well, Sai, would it be possible for you to stop following us?'

"No."

"Why not?"

Sai internally struggled.

"I cannot say."

He lifted his mask, and opened his mouth. There is a seal on his tongue.

Both of the gasped in horror. Karin wasn't a master like her mother, or even as proficient as Tenten, but she has spent the past two weeks or so studying the content of her stomach seal with Tenten, reviewing her old lessons with her mother, and working with Neji and Hinata-these two seals were incredibly alike.

"I'm sorry." Karin said.

Again, she felt surprise from him. He could not comprehend that someone could feel compassion for him.

"We can help you, if you help us. If I make clones, and you follow them, I promise to do everything I can to help you." Haku said.

"Me too!"

Sai nodded, and Haku performed the ice clone jutsu.

After a second, Sai followed the clones. Just to be sure they were alone now, Karin flared out her chakra.

It was just them.

"So, Karin, what was it that you had to show me?"

This was something that had to be seen.

"Follow me."

And they were off. Hair streaming behind them, glinting ruby red and inky black in the sun, as they streaked through treetops as one. They slowed to a stop on the outer edge of Tenten's window and knocked.

Some clicking, and Tenten's face appeared, grim.

Haku, having already sensed the other signatures, immediately got to work.

"We need you to check and see how far the seals chakra goes into the brain, how it affects the nervous system and the chakra coils, and if it's safe to remove."

Haku nodded, and covered the ugly slave seal with a glowing green hand.

Feeling Haku's chakra freeze in horror, and then burn with rage was not a nice feeling.

"Neji, I need you to try and perform a main branch move for me. Hinata, watch his arms."

Neji did as instructed, and Karin focused as hard as she could.

And there, at the end of his extremities, the move flickered and died just before completion.

Haku exhaled harshly.

"The seal isn't just damaging the chakra and nerves in the brain. It's affecting the whole body. The more you use the byakugan the worse it gets. Neji's is already so bad, his coils will collapse within the year, the rate he's training at."

Tenten gasped in horror. Karin covered her mouth. Neji and Hinata cried.

"Can y-you remove it?" Hinata sobbed.

"I can't. We need to do some deep healing first before we can even think to attempt to remove it. Once we try, Tenten will need to use every ounce of her skill, as will I. Even then, it won't work."

"Why?!"

"Because the seal is connected to the main branch. The moment its removed, it'll send a signal to the clan head, alerting would all be executed."

"..."

The silence is heavy; one of crushed dreams.

"There is still hope. Hinata, you can activate the seal, can't you?"

"I-I-"

"Can't you?"

Hinata looked down ashamed. Neji sent her a shocked look. Karin new he was thinking of all their past fights, and how she could have ended it right there, but didn't.

"Y-yes."

"That means a portion of all the seals are connected to you. How long has your sister been training for the position of clan head?

"Three years."

"Hm. So the connection is not as strong as it is with you, but if my hypothesis is right, then if we gather you two close to Neji when we remove the seal, your signatures should be enough to redirect the alert to you two, instead of your father."

"...That could work." Tenten murmerd. "This seal, while stuck on tight, is very shoddily made. The alarm seal in this half baked thing doesn't work properly."

Karin once again feels everyone's chakra spike with hope and excitement. It's a nice feeling, like a shot of happiness directly to the heart.

"Do you think you could talk to your little sister, Hinata?" Haku asked.

"I-I don't know. It's been so long, and our relationship is, um, not good. But I will do everything in my power to convince her!"

The sudden determination was uncharacteristic of Hinata, but Karin felt her sincerity.

Tenten's eyes sparkled.

"Alright. For now we work on Neji and getting him prepped for removal. Hinata will work on her strategy to talk to Hanabi, and try to uncover more about the seal if she can. Neji, after this, will cut back on training, and try to see if there's any other branch members willing to give this a shot. It might be easier to remove their's than his. In the meantime, I'll try to see if I can recruit Sakura-chan as well. We're gonna need all the help we can get, but I have a feeling we can do this!"

* * *

 **WOOOOOO! Viva la revolution!**

 **The corrupt shinobi mentality works hard, but these kids work harder.**

 **And snow day, lmao! Its sooooo cold where I am, like negative 30, and that's not even an exaggeration! Schools out!**

 **Stay warm readers!**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you think about the Konoha eleven and their shifts away from the Shinobi ideology?**


	53. The Lessons We Learn

Haruhi was busy staring blankly at the burned out nursery in the Uchiha district when she felt a gentle hand rest on her shoulder. She immediately knew it was Kakashi-how could she not? The familiar warmth, the shape of his fingers, the crinkle of the glove. But still she stared at the nursery.

She was holding the other faded pink baby bootie she had found in the ash. When the uchiha were executed, some of them left candles on, stoves on, fires on. Many of the houses here burned down or had fire damage. Or maybe the fire was after, with Konoha trying to cover up the evidence.

She wondered if this baby Itachi murdered died by burns, smoke inhalation, or he straight up stabbed her.

Haruhi knew Itachi was ordered to do this, but that didn't mean he was innocent. The Nuremberg defense didn't work on her. Nazis, when being tried in Nuremberg Germany for the crimes they committed tried to pass of their atrocities as 'just following orders' or 'orders are orders'. Something to that effect. Thus, the Nuremberg Defense.

Blood was on his hands. He was supposedly a thinking being, a prodigy, he made a conscious decision to carry out this act. He literally did not have to do that. He should have know the council was manipulating him, but he did it anyway.

He had to choose between a fascist, bigoted, oppressive, military dictatorship or his family, and he choose the dictatorship.

Regardless of being backed into a so-called corner, that was not something Haruhi could forgive him for, even if she understood why he was backed there.

This whole genocide was never necessary. It was painted as such, of course, but the Uchiha would have gladly listened to reason, a ceasefire from the council if only they had tried to reach out to the Uchiha instead of oppressing them, this would have never happened. The Uchiha were pushed to the brink, and only decided on a coup in order to be treated with some semblance of respect. In fact, to prove that they never meant to harm anyone, listen to this.

They could have stopped Itachi. Easily. Sure, he's a fucking prodigy, a genius, yadda yadda yadda, but against hundreds of his Highly trained clansmen? Most with years and decades of experience on him? Elite officers stronger than your average jounin? Most with the same bloodline as Itachi's who could counter his strongest moves? And Mikoto, the A ranked kunoichi, would she really go effortlessly unless she wanted to minimize damage?

Oh, and Fugaku. S-ranked ninja. Police chief. Clan head. Incredibly powerful sharingan. A hokage candidate. A man who would be hokage if Konoha wasn't so fucking bigoted. A man who could tango with Kages and come out brushing dust off his shoulder, do you really think bitch boy Itachi had any hope of killing him unless Fugaku let him?

Haruhi didn't want to speak for the Uchiha, but from what she was gathering, the land of fire was their home. They had lived in these lands way before Konoha was even a concept. They didn't want to see their home destroyed. They didn't want to see the people they protected hurt in the infighting. If they rose up in violent revolution, they would have gotten far, but at what cost? And most of all?

They were tired.

Haruhi knew what that felt like.

Haruhi was Bisexual. She once got beat up in a Chicago alleyway for kissing her then girlfriend, with their fists raining down on her head, they spat slurs like Dyke and faggot. She shook for weeks afterward. Haruhi was mixed race. Called zebra. Not white enough, but not black enough either. Feeling like she never had any place. Haruhi was a woman. She lived in America, where greasy white men thought it was their right to control her reproductive health. Where a creepy man followed her 15 year old self from school to the store, and stared at her and wouldn't leave for over an hour. Because he felt entitled to her.

Haruhi was of Jewish descent. Her father before he died, was practicing. Haruhi didn't really believe in organized religion as a whole, especially in recent years, but she practiced for most of her life. They'd say shit like Kike, and make fun of her wide and slightly long nose. And Haruhi is suffering through various mental health problems. Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and an eating disorder.

By college, she was exhausted with life.

Haruhi's history is one filled with discrimination, exclusion, and hurt. Her great great Grandmother was a slave, and a survivor of the genocide against African Americans. Her fathers grandparents were liberated from holocaust death camps by the red army. The Trans-generational trauma from both sides of the family led to a chasm between her mother, and her father feeling like he couldn't open up to either of them.

She knew, intimately, what the Uchiha went through.

So, Yeah.

She was fucking pissed.

She was taking this personally, because it was personal to her!

So when she stared at this burned out nursery, where infants were set on fire, she thinks of her great grandmother's infant sister, who was thrown a top an open flame in Auschwitz, along with all the other babies who couldn't be forced to work themselves to the bone for the Nazis.

Fuck Itachi.

Fuck Konoha.

Couldn't they see, couldn't Kakashi see she had to do this?! That she had to help make things better! That she had to do this, or did her family's history, _her history_ _ **, mean nothing?**_

Her sight of the fire scorched nursery was blocked as Kakashi stood in front of her, wiping tears from her face.

She couldn't even begin to speak, so she closed her eyes.

Still clutching the baby bootie, she felt Kakashi lead her away and towards his house, with some of the cleanup Naruto clones chattering nervously in the background.

He gently took of her sandals and carried her to the bedroom, setting her down carefully. She heard the water running in the bathroom, and he came back with a wet cloth, tenderly cleaning her face.

"Do you...want to talk about it?" He asked hesitantly.

Haruhi took deep breaths, feeling the air whoosh in and out of her burning throat.

She nodded.

"I know I've been closed off, and tight lipped about my history and who I am, but Here's the gist. My family, on both sides, has a long history of being discriminated against, hate crimes, and genocide. I have been hurt many times over because of bigotry. What's happening in konoha right now and in the past, is sending alarm bells ringing. What happened to Sasuke and his family is very personal to me, because my family and I have lived it, and many have died because of it."

"...Oh."

"Yeah. I cannot just sit by this time. If I have learned anything it's that I need to work to make the world better. I cannot sit on my hands, even if it's the safer thing to do."

Haruhi teared up again

"It's just, I-I felt so useless when I first came here! I was completely dependent on you! I felt like a burden. I wasn't doing anything. Back home, I was involved in so many things. Youth programs, choir, college, sports, and then I got here. And nothing. I spent my formative years with my mom detached and my dad dead or dying. I had to be independent. I had to be useful! And now, I finally am again, and I know you didn't mean to hurt my feelings, but you told me to stop all that! I-I need to though!"

"I'm sorry all that happened to you guys. And when I told you to stop, I never wanted to hurt you. Only protect you. I know this is dangerous. You do too, more than I initially thought you did. But Haruhi, I assassinated people like you!"

Haruhi blinked.

She knew kakashi was in ANBU, for ten year and a captain. The A Literally stood for assassination, but to hear him spell it out like this…

"I know your type. Self sacrificial, self righteous. They only see the cause. I support you, and I'll continue to support you and your activities, but you need to think about yourself. Look at you!"

He held up his polished kunai, and Haruhi stared at her reflection. There were bags under her eyes. Her brown skin looked washed out and dry. Her hair was frizzy and her eyes and nose were tinted red. Her cheeks looked sunken in, Her cheekbone more prominent, like she had lost weight.

At that realization, she felt a thrill of happiness. At least she has something under control.

"Haruhi, when's the last time you ate?"

Her self-satisfied smile froze on her face.

"Haruhi...you can't keep doing this. You have made a lot of enemies. Almost everybody in this world wants to hurt you. And from what I just heard, almost everyone in your home world wants to hurt you too. Why do you have to join them?"

Breaths came fast and shallow as she started to hyperventilate.

"You can't take action if you don't eat."

Haruhi jumped from the bed, staggered towards the door, and collapsed halfway there, onto the carpet, where strained gasps tore from her throat. The world spun with low blood sugar and panic as Haruhi tried to tell up from down, Kakashi's word echoed tinnily in her head, and she moaned in fear as her body listed sideways.

She felt Kakashi's arms wrap around her, cradle her, and rock her back and forth in his lap. She may have passed out a few times. When she was finally done panicking, the clock read 25 minutes later.

She was tired.

Panic attacks do that to you.

Every Single muscle group ached, including her jaw, which she had been clenching. Kakashi slipped his arms under her limp form, and carried ehr to the kitchen, where he set her down on the counter.

His hands hovered over unsure.

"Would you like to make something? Stir fry? Sugar cookies?"

"No! They have t-too many calories!"

"Okay, then about a snack. We could split an apple, or a banana."

She shook her head, swaying as the motion filled her vision with spots.

Kakashi sighed.

"Haruhi, when's the last time you ate?"

"I'm not saying."

"Why not?"

"Because then you'll be mad at me! You're already doing so much for me, you really don't need to."

"I'm not mad at you. I'm not going to be mad at you either, because I care about you. You are not a burden, I am choosing to help you because I want to. Please, let me help. Tell me."

"...Three days ago."

Kakashi closed his eye, then moving so he stood between her legs, arms wrapping around her waist and face burying into her shoulder. Haruhi wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders.

"How about we split an apple. First I take a bite, and then you. Sound good?"

Haruhi really didn't want to, but she nodded against him. He reluctantly let her go, before tugging down his mask, and grabbing one of the honey-crisps.

He took a bite, and then handed it to her.

Slowly, she took a bite. For a minute the apple just sat there at the bottom her mouth. The juices on her tongue made her feel disgusting. She chewed incredibly slowly before finally swallowing.

They passed it back and forth until it was gone.

"Okay, lets try a banana."

Kakashi took the first bite, and they traded until it was gone.

Haruhi slowly reached over and picked up a plum, and took the first bite, handing it to kakashi.

Guilt and disgust were replaced by his joyful smile. She felt pride at being able to make him feel better and took another bite.

"You know, when I told you to stop doing this, I did partially mean tone it down with the resistance efforts. But I also meant this. You can't keep treating yourself like this. You are not a tool."

The words drew a gasp from her.

"So many people have tried to destroy you, but your still here, aren't you? You're probably the strongest woman I ever meet. You're capacity for kindness is unmet, and your resilience is astounding. The fact you lasted this long without a breakdown is amazing. But also heart wrenching. You were struggling and I barely knew. And If no one knows, no one can help."

Haruhi looked down at the plum pit in her hand.

"You give so much, you are such a giving person, but did anyone ever tell you it was okay to take? To receive? You didn't get much help growing up, but I want you to know that whatever you need from me, you can have. I want you to know, that you don't need to feel like you need to do everything by yourself."

He scooted up onto the counter next to her, and wrapped his arm around her.

"Haruhi, your value doesn't depend on what you can offer others. You are more than what you can give. You are more than your service to others. You are allowed to exist. To take up space. You don't owe anyone anything. And If you choose to give, because you are an amazing strong person, that's great! But not at the expense of yourself. If you give your everything, if you give it your all, you have nothing left for yourself."

"You're ancestors are no doubt proud of your efforts to make it better for others, but they died so you could live. They suffered. I know they would want you to be living as happy and healthy as you can be. Because you _deserve_ to."

Dammit. She was crying again.

"I think you have been lying to yourself about how okay you are. For maybe a long time. I think you don't value yourself as much as you should. While these issues resurfaced with a vengeance when you were summoned here, they always existed. It's not a bad thing to depend on others. It's not a weakness."

Haruhi sighed shakily, rubbing her fists into her eyes

She spoke.

"I h-hope you know all that applies to you as well, K-Kakashi."

Kakashi chuckled wetly, and Haruhi realized he was crying as well.

"I'll help you tomorrow with whatever I can, but for now, let's wash up and go to sleep."

He helped her off the counter.

"Thank you, Kakashi."

His face softened. He knew she was thanking him for more than the counter.

They slept peacefully that night.

* * *

 **Wow Kakashi! Being a good uh, partner? Bro? I mean, they're technically not together yet...**

 **And I really liked this chapter, because I finally got to focus on Haruhi for once! Oh, and, while Haurhi is made up, all the things she references, like the Nuremberg defense, The nazi's burning babies, and The genocide of the African Americans, are completely real. :(**

 **Question of the chapter: What do you think of Haruhi? What are your opinions of her? And what do you think about her and Kakashi's relationship?**

 **I wanted you guys to know, before we go, that I read each and every single one of your reviews. I don't have the time to respond, but I appreciate every single one!**


	54. Hokage Who?

Hinata took a deep breath, and then another as she stood in front of her sisters room. The doorway was intimidating, flashes of good time in her mind's eye as she stood still. Memories when they were still happy, before they broke apart.

Or rather, were pushed apart. The pressures of the clan and the shadow of their mothers sudden death when Hanabi was still a baby. How their father and clan elders pitted them against each other to see who was the strongest. Constantly comparing them to the point where they stopped seeing each other as sisters and more as stepping stones. Competition.

In a rare show of anger, Hinata clenched her fists so hard her fingernails dug into her palm. She hadn't had a conversation with her little sister ever since that fight to determine who would be clan heiress those two years ago.

Hinata was shoved to the side and spent as little time as possible in the compound and the compound center in order to avoid the cutting words of her father, and Hanabi's free time was all taken away to train her as heiress. She was micromanaged to pieces, like Hinata was.

The door opened.

Hinata had forgotten how much Hanabi looked like their mother, but face to face like this, it was impossible to deny. Hinata may have gotten her hair color, but Hanabi's face and strength was all her.

"Well? Come in. Father is at a meeting with the other clan heads."

Hanai's voice was carefully, painfully neutral, like talking to a guest rather than her sister, and Hinata wiped her clammy hands on her jacket, feeling even worse as it stuck to the rolls of fat on her stomach.

"I found this."

Hinata's pulse raced as Hanabi pulled out their old stuffed animal. It was one their mother had gifted Hinata, just weeks before she...died. She had said the Teddy bear would protect her, and always be truthful to her. She had said that with a sad look in her eyes. Later, Hinata would give it to her little sister, and tell her the same thing.

"I'm not stupid, Nee-chan. I saw you sneaking around with Neji. I know you're planning something, and whatever that is, you need me for it."

Hinata nodded unable to speak.

"My only question is, why are you only coming to me now? Where were you when I needed you?"

"I'm sorry-"

"I know you are, but that wasn't an answer." Hanabi, emotions always locked away in an icebox, had tears simmering in the corners of her eyes. She clutched the bear to her like a lifeline.

"Because, I-I'm weak. I couldn't be strong enough. Dad was right in saying I'm a bad influence on you. I couldn't protect you, I knew what h-heir meant, the struggles, the p-pressure, but I couldn't bring myself to hit you during our f-fight, and now you're suffering for it."

Hanabi's eyes narrowed at the edges, the same way mom's did when she heard something that struck a nerve.

"...Well, Dad is a liar." Hanabi said, voice tight.

Hinata chuckled wetly.

"No, you misunderstand me, Hinata. Take a closer look at this bear."

Hanabi pulled back the stitching on the back and Hinata gasped. Mother had hand made this for them! How could she just rip it apart-

A piece of paper fell out of it.

For a moment, Hinata was so stunned she could do nothing but look at the pricey stationary inscribed with her mother's handwriting as Hanabi picked it up from the floor.

"I was looking through our old things. I was mad. At dad. At mom for killing herself, and you, for standing by. So I-I tore up this bear, and the paper fell out. This bear doesn't have any chakra infused in it, so we missed it. I think mom put it there. I think you should read it."

Hands clammy, Hinata took it from her sisters trembling fingers and read it.

 _Dear Hinata and Hanabi._

 _My time is drawing to a close. I was shortsighted, impatient, and not careful enough, and got caught. After the death of your uncle, I knew I couldn't stand by anymore. He made it so it seemed like his choice to be given over to Kumo, but it really wasn't. He was dying. The caged bird seal weighed heavy on him, and was made worse, as his frequent use of the byakugan strained his chakra pathways and nerves. He had a year, tops, before he succumbed to it. He went along to Kumo because he would have rather died away from Neji's eyes and honorable than in a hospital._

 _And I had enough. I conspired to remove the seals from our clan-mates, but wasn't careful enough, and got caught. I'm being tried for treason._

 _And so, Ironically, I find myself going the way of my brother in-law. If I'm not killed, I'll be caged too, and I can't let you or your baby sister see that. I'm fully grown, and putting a seal on someone like me would more than likely drive them insane. And I can't do that to you two._

 _So even though it's a long shot. I'll hide this letter here. The truth will always be with you. I love you, Hinata. You couldn't disappoint me if you tried. You are such a loving girl, and your fathers standards are impossible to meet. None of this is your fault._

 _Hanabi. I'm sorry I won't ever get to know you. But I want you to know that I love you. That I'm sure you will be a brave, strong girl. I want you to know that you older sister loves you, and that the two of you need to take care of each other._

 _Don't make the same mistakes I did._

 _-Mother._

Eyes watering, mind in a state of shock, Hinata barely reacts when Hanabi pulls her into their first hug in years.

Hanabi mumbled something into her jacket.

"W-what?"

"...I want to make that monster pay. All of them. They made mom do this." Hanabi gasped, years of pain coming out s she clung to her sister. "Whatever you need help with, I'll do it."

Hinata froze, recalling the last line in her mother's letter to them. Then to her plans with Neji, Karin, Haku, and Tenten.

"Alright. B-but I need you to promise to hear me out. This won't be easy, and we need...need to be careful."

"Okay. What is it."

Hinata activated her eyes, saw they were along, and spoke in a low whisper.

"I want to find a way to get rid of the caged bird seal for good."

Hanabi stiffened, and she expected her to maybe yell, or rage, but she only nodded.

"That would be the best way to get back at them all. And prevent one of us from being sealed." Hanabi said thoughtfully.

"Yes, that great-what?"

"Big sister, they are planning to seal one of us. Probably you, but I've been rather sullen lately, and you are much easier to control."

"...Oh."

"Yeah. Anyway, lets go! I assume you have something set up?"

Smiling, Hinata took her little sisters hand in hers, and they were off. Feeling more hopeful than she had in years, Hinata smiled.

* * *

The room was well lit, but that didn't stop the permeanting darkness from filling the room to near suffocating. All the clan heads were here, along with every single council member and the last loyal sannin.

Everyone was here-except the Hokage.

The reason they had assembled today.

Kakashi held back a sigh. He hadn't acted as clan head for the hatake clan in, well, ever. He had been to young to take over when his father was still alive, and after that it had been too painful. But things change. Besides, even if he wasn't here to represent the Hatake clan, he would be here as one of the most powerful in the village.

As he surveyed the room, he couldn't help but notice all the empty seats. Many other clans were also extinct or on the edge. The Uchiha were only the most prominent.

Hiashi cleared his throat and the room immediately quieted down from low murmuring to silence. Jiraiya stepped forward. He looked rung out and tired. Kakashi had to stifle an inappropriate chuckle as he imagined what she would say about the state of split ends and flyaways in his hair.

Now was not the time for that.

Learning the Hokages mind was going was a huge blow, and would be an even bigger one when it got public. Kakashi had suspected something was wrong when he got the Hokage to stop the trial, but over these past few weeks, slightly odd behavior became completely bedridden. The Hokages days were numbered, and when he passed, which was going to be sooner rather than later, it would cripple Konoha in ways never seen before.

The death of the fourth was devastating, but even then they had the third to fall back on. The last time a hokage had died without someone already in place to support the village, it was the second hokage. And almost everyone in Konoha was too young to remember those dark days(like himself) or had forgotten.

"As you all know, we've assembled here today to decide who will be the next hokage." Jiraiya said.

"Which we all agreed on you." Said Koharu.

Jiraiya's eyes sharpened and Kakashi stiffened in his seat. He knew Jiraiya didn't want the hat, and neither did Kakashi. He knew they were eyeing him. In a couple years with more experience, Kakashi knows he will be a more than viable candidate. In this situation, they might disregard that entirely and push him forwards anyway.

"My answer is no."

"Then what do you propose, Jiraiya?"

"That I go and bring her back."

Gasps of surprise. There was only one person he could be referring to.

"I'll go, find Tsunade, and bring her back."

"...And if not?" Kakashi found himself asking.

Jiraiya looked at him.

"Then we'll deal with it then. I'm taking Naruto. It's about time to start on his training."

* * *

Haruhi heaved more debri over her shoulder and into the trash pile for Sasuke to burn.

Progress for cleaning up the Uchiha clan spaces was going well. Many of the houses had to be completely torn down due to damage at the foundations, but a fair number were still in good enough shape for Yamato to fix up.

All the supplies was sorted out. Things Sasuke wanted to keep were sent to the main house. Other things were subtlety donated to the various charities in the village, a fair number of them run by Kasumi and other civilians haruhi met at various group meetings.

The original Naruto worked his way over to her side, fingers tapping nervously on the side of his orange pants.

Haruhi recognized that look. He wanted to ask her something. Kakashi's words from yesterday rang in her ears, about biting off more than she could chew. But if Naruto needed someone to listen to him, she would.

"Whats up, buddy?"

"Oh, what? What would make you think that-"

She turned and raised an eyebrow at him, immediately shutting him up.

"Spit it out, kid. I don't bite."

"Well, uh, you know how everyone says i'm stupid and naive because i'm nice? And that they are smarter than me? Are they, uh, right?" He squeaked.

Haruhi blinked. Put the trash down.

"Buttercup I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say."

He gulped and nodded.

"Naruto, I value kind people over intelligent people by a huge margin. So much so it's not even funny. The world has plenty of smarty pants and people who think they know better than you. But kind people? Niceness? That is so much more important than solving any rubik's cube ever. The world needs more people like you, Naruto."

His mouth made an 'O'.

"Anyone can be mean, or pretentious. That has a lot to do with being a product of the world they were raised in. As we've come to realize, the ninja world isn't a pleasant one. To be kind is a choice. No one is born intrinsically nice. To actively practice kindness is a powerful thing that not everyone has the strength of character to pull off. So while you should exercise caution, I truly believe that you are making the world a better place exactly the way you are right now."

He jumped up and hugged her, sniffling.

She hugged him back.

"Alright, lets get rid of this trash and take a break. Sound good?

"Yeah!"

"And if you're worried about being dumb or whatever, they have extra lessons at the academy for people not in the ninja program. Iruka helps with it too."

Naruto smiled, and they cleaned up. Until he showed up.

"Hey, who the heck is that old man?"

Haruhi grunted, and looked up.

And there in all his sexual harassment, worn down glory, was Jiraiya.

"Hey kid, today is your lucky day! Pack your bags because you're coming with me!"

Shit.

* * *

 **Spring break? More like winter break Pt 2.**

 **Hope you had fun!**


End file.
